A New World
by p3pp3rmintt
Summary: On the way home from a mission with Team Natsu, Lucy is sucked into an alternative world. How will everyone work in both worlds to bring back their celestial mage? NaLu
1. Chapter 1

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 1 That Fateful Day**

Lucy stretched, waking up warm and content, it's been 3 days since the horrors of Ichiya's "Parfum" incident around town. Today she planned on finally returning Natsu's cloak that he had to give her once her bunny outfit was destroyed. She sat up and looked out the window. _It looks like it's still early in the morning, the sun must have just risen. I will just head to Natsu's house rather than to the guild. I don't want them all to start the teasing again. _

Turning her body so she could slip out of bed, she collided with a large, warm object. Looking to her right, she spotted a mop of pink hair sticking out of the top of her covers. She gave one swift 'nudge' with her foot and Natsu toppled to the ground, wrapped in her blankets. "Lucccyyyyyy! Why'd you do that?!" He whined.

She frowned at him, trying to sound patronizing. "Natsu, how many times have I told you?! You can't just climb into my bed!"

He sat up and huffed grumpily, "I don't see the big deal. We are a team and a team should do everything together!"

She held back her smirk, while she felt like melting on the inside. He was always so dedicated to her and Happy; their little team. "Natsu . . It's inappropriate for you to do that."

He jumped to his feet, blanket falling to the floor around him. "Why is it inappropriate? You always try to explain it and I don't get it!"

Normally at this point Lucy would get frustrated at how dense Natsu can be, but this occasion she was far too distracted by seeing him shirtless in the early morning light. Feeling her face flush, she stammered, "N . .Natsu, w . . where is y . . your jacket?!"

He stared at her in confusion and then suddenly smacked his forehead and excited said, "Oh yeah! I came here last night to get it. I never got it back from you yet. But you were asleep so I figured I'd just get it whenever you woke up." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

Lucy sighed to show her irritation, even if it is just for appearances. She couldn't admit it out loud, but waking up to him and Happy in her apartment always made her feel warm and safe. After her lonely childhood, it was nice to have someone that close, even if they will only ever view her as a friend. She would take any kind of love from the dragon slayer. She wasn't even sure if he knew there was more than just friendship love, that it can go deeper into a new form of relationship.

She crossed the room and snatched up his jacket which was folded neatly and obviously on the coffee table. "Here! I was going to actually head to your house and give it to you but I guess you were super eager."

He started putting it on and glanced at her. "Luce, you wanna go on a job?"

She let her frustrated demeanor slip into an excited one. "Yea! When? Today?!"

Natsu spiritedly smirked. "Whenever you are ready to head to the guild. I told Gray and Erza about it and they are totally psyched to go too!"

Lucy ran off into the restroom, bringing a change of clothes and quickly got ready with a rushed morning routine. After quickly packing a small bag of clothing and supplies, Natsu and Lucy walked to the guild together and ate breakfast waiting for the other members of their team.

Once Erza finally arrived with her mountain of suitcases piled on a small cart, they made their way over to the request board. "What about this one?" "Nah looks too easy!" "OOOOHHHHHHHH! This one is near a beach!" "But the reward is so small, are you sure that will be enough to help towards your rent once it's split?" "This one looks interesting .." "NOOOOO! Erza, we told you we won't do that play ever again!"

Lucy scanned the board, enjoying the team bickering. She found one that caught her eye. "Here guys what about this one?" The team stood behind her and read the request over her shoulder.

**PLEASE HELP**

**TOWN HAS BEEN INFILTRATED BY BANDITS AND ROUGUES**

**THEY ARE DESTROYING EVERYTHING**

**_Some picture included with a few rough looking faces._**

**PLEASE CONTACT MAYOR**

**1,000,000 JEWELS REWARD**

The team all greed and went to Mirajane at the bar. As they were about to step out of the guild doors, Wendy shyly came over. "Guys, would it be okay if I joined you all, I don't mind taking a reduced portion of the payout, I'm just looking to pay rent and get some experience."

The group smiled to each other in a silent agreement and Erza walked over to the small, blue haired mage. "Of course Wendy." She placed her hand on the petite girl's shoulder. "We would be delighted for you to join us, and you can have a full share of the reward!"

Wendy looked nervously around the group. "A . .Are you sure?"

Happy jumped with a jubilant "AYE SIR!" while Natsu gave a thumbs up and playful grin, Gray gave a small nod with his hands crossed over his chest, and Lucy gave a warm smile and said "YEAH! OF COURSE!" Wendy smiled gratefully to everyone.

* * *

They didn't have to wait too long for Wendy and Carla to go back to Fairy Hills to pack a small bag and return. Dragging Natsu on the train took a lot of effort and energy, resulting in Erza knocking him out. They slumped him against the window seat next to Lucy, his face against the glass. They chatted and enjoyed the quick ride over to Onibus. Lucy ended up carrying to unconscious Natsu until they reached the Mayor's office. The town was quiet, and they didn't see anyone in the streets or hear anything on the way over. The Mayor was locked in his office with defense ruins set up around the property. Happy tripped one and the group was soon stuck. They Mayor came out and once everyone was confirmed a Fairy Tail wizard, he informed them of the details of their problems.

They group of bandits/rogues took over the shops and stole from the civilians. They claimed to kill anyone they spot out on the streets at first sight.

Natsu jumped off his spot near the wall where Lucy dumped him and yelled. "I'm fired up now!" He took off running out of the building with two fiery fists. Gray stared after him, muttering "Idiot."

Soon every member was in combat. Gray captured 6 bandits near the shops by the train station, Erza was in the park and just finished tying her 20th captured ruffian. Happy was attempting to gather and tie the random trail of bad guys Natsu knocked out and place them with Grays.

Lucy had Loke and Virgo out. Loke knocked out 4 bad guys while Virgo tied them up. Lucy knocked out 2 herself already and was still battling a third one with her whip. The man whips out cards and threw them at her. She jumped, narrowly dodging the explosion that occurred when they made contact with a shrub behind her. As the man grabbed another card, he froze and stared at it. Lucy, not wanting to miss her chance ran towards the man. Just as she was about to land one of her Lucy kicks, he grabs her leg and flips her over him, slamming her on the ground. Letting out a painful groan she shot him a disgruntled look.

He stared back at her, eyes filled with confusion and sadness. "I'm sorry miss." She stared blankly at him. _WHAT? Why the hell would he apologize to me, we are in the middle of a battle! I mean yeah that hurt, but my kick would have hurt him too._

Before she could get up, he flicked his card to her. She closed her eyes in anticipation, knowing that card magic can vary and she wasn't sure what to expect. Feeling the small card land gracefully on her chest, carefully opened her eyes. He stood there, above her, face filled with anguish. "I can't bear to hurt you, after seeing what the future has in store for you. You will be going through enough as it is. I really am so sorry." With that he stalked away before changing his mind.

She sat up, confused and stared after him, before frantically picking up the card. It had a picture of a person floating with what looks like it could be wind swirls around them. Above and below the person there were these weird purple cuts. Loke came over and put his hand out to Lucy, worry etching his expressions. "What happened over here?"

Lucy allowed him to help her up and wordlessly handed over the card, glancing back towards the direction the card mage wandered off to. Loke stared at the card for several minutes before suggesting Lucy asking for Crux to look into it. Virgo finished tying off the last of the men and Loke and her dragged them over to the pile near Gray.

Once Virgo went back, Lucy went stepped away and called out Crux, showing him the card and asking him to look into what it could possibly mean. He said he would go back to the celestial world and look into it because it would be faster.

Lucy soon arrived back to where she left Gray and Loke, only to find Erza, Wendy, Carla and Happy gathered as well. Letting out a sigh, she looked around. "Where's Natsu?"

"I'm right here Luce!"

His voice came directly behind her, causing her to jump in surprise. She turned around to glower at him. "You don't have to scare me like that!"

Erza looked at the group of people. "Looks like many of the people belong to a dark guild. I wonder where their leader is."

Natsu lifted one of the bodies he was carelessly dragging behind him. "Do you think this could be him?"

The group stared at Natsu with disbelief. Wendy finally said, "Looks like it could be!"

Erza looked around, clearly pleased. "Well I think we did catch everyone."

Lucy looked down towards her feet, slightly ashamed. "No. I . .I accidentally let one escape."

Erza frowned but Gray walked over and patted her on the back. "It's okay Lucy, it happens." He smiled reassuringly to her.

Wendy looked around and mumbled apologies that she let one slip away as well. Erza looked to Natsu, "Natsu, can you hunt them down?"

His smiled stretched across his face, accepting this challenge. "Oh yea! I'll be back soon. C'mon Happy!" The duo set out and was soon out of sight. The remaining members started to gather the men and place them in police carts that started to arrive. After about 40 minutes, Natsu slowly made his way back with 2 people dragging behind him. He tossed them wordlessly to the cops and stalked off.

Lucy stared after him, asking Happy, "What's up with Natsu?"

Happy frowned and glanced at his pink haired friend. "One of the guys said something to him. I didn't hear what, but it is bugging him. He wouldn't tell me what the guy said."

* * *

Once the group had the reward money, the Mayor treated them all to lunch and they were ready to depart. Erza looked to the group proudly. "Well that was finished much quicker than expected! How about we walk back to the guild. We will be able to make it before nightfall still." This cheered up Natsu and everyone agreed that some fresh air and exercise would be preferred than short train ride.

As the group neared Magnolia, Erza stopped everyone and told them she had a surprise for them all. She quickly pulled out a large sheet and stretched it across the field they were walking on. "We shall have ourselves a glorious picnic!" Everyone looked to themselves and heartily agreed, knowing this meant a lot to the red headed mage who apparently has never been on a full real picnic. All of her past attempts have been ruined. Once everyone was sated and happy, they packed up the picnic and started to make their way towards town.

Lucy glanced at the sun that was starting it's descent in the in the summer sky. _Today has been an awesome day, except for that weird card guy. _She pulled out the card and looked at it. _I'll ask Cana when we get back to the guild if she knows anything. Crux has been searching all day and even has some of the other spirits searching as well. _Lucy could feel the breeze pick up and she held her arms across herself to try and keep warm.

Wendy sniffed the air. "That's weird."

Gray looked at her curiously. "What's weird Wendy?"

She looked around the group nervously. "The sky . . It's smells weird." She proceeded to take a finger out and swipe it in the air before returning it to her mouth. "It even tastes weird."

Carla looked at Wendy with concern. "What do you think that could mean child?"

Wendy looked around and sadly shrugged. Before anyone could say anything else, Carla gasped, holding her head. Everyone huddled around Carla. "Are you okay Carla?" "What is it?" Wendy looked to Carla with worried curiosity. "Is it a vision Carla?"

Carla just held her head, trying to decipher the scraped vision she just experienced. She didn't even know what she saw. Flashes of color, the guild crying, a bottle of pills, a rope breaking, blood on a white carpet. What could it all mean?

Lucy let out a soft gasp as 2 of her golden celestial keys started to glow. Loke and Virgo stood in front of her. The group stared at her, clearly surprised. Lucy yelped, "What are you both d . . . ." Virgo picked up Lucy midsentence and hauled her to the nearest tree while Loke ran over to Natsu and ripped his back pack off of his shoulders.

Natsu glared at the celestial spirit. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Loke didn't bother to answer as he dug through the contents of the pack. Grapping the rope, he ran over to where Virgo set down Lucy. Loke gave one end of the rope to Virgo and he took the other; Virgo started to tie the roped to the tree with intricate knots while Loke focused on tying his end around Lucy's waist. She blushed furiously and shouted. "WHAT DO YOU BOTH THINK YOUR DOING?!"

Virgo and Loke shared a meaningful look before Loke snatched the card away from Lucy and stalked over to the group of friends that stood gawking. He flashed the card in front of them. "One of the guys Lucy was against stopped mid battle to give her some fortune card. After that he refused to battle her because of the future he saw, he said something about feeling sorry for her."

"LOKE!" Lucy fumed.

The group looked to Lucy. Natsu ground his teeth out of frustration as Gray asked. "Lucy, is this true?"

She looked to the ground, "Yeah, I was going to ask Cana when we got back. I didn't want to worry anyone in case he was just trying to distract me."

Natsu looked at Lucy with concern. "Lucy, he said something to me as well." He looked down at the ground, his fist clenched. "He told me . ."

"OH NO!" Everyone looked over to Wendy. She was staring at the sky, her eyes the size of saucers. Everyone let their eyes follow to where she stared in horror. In the beautiful evening sky, cutting into the blue sky that was starting to blend with the orange and pink hues of the sunset was a large rip. The sky had an enormous tear! Inside, there was some kind of purple light with black clouds and blue lightening streaking out. Their mouths hung open as they felt like they couldn't move.

Hearing Lucy's shriek ripped the group from their focus and they all looked at her. Lucy had tight winds whipping around her while her body hovered several feet above the ground. Natsu ran to try and catch her. Upon making contact with the wind force, he was thrown back, reeling in pain. Loke fell to his knees in pain, starting to disappear. "LUCY! HANG IN THERE!"

Lucy shut her eyes, tears starting to form. She could barely make out shapes outside of the vortex she was wrapped in. She felt herself being lifted until she was at the end of the rope, dangling in the sky. She screamed again. She grabbed the rope and tried to pull herself towards the tree, , but the vortex's pull was too strong. She cried out in pain against the rope that was wrapped around her, digging into her sides. She could feel the vortex shift as something slammed against it repeatedly. She recognized that shade of pink anywhere. She stretched out her hand, trying to reach past the whipping winds. Hearing her name faintly being yelled by those closest to her was breaking her heart.

Although she couldn't see them very clearly, they could still make out a good view of Lucy. Loke grabbed Gray and stuffed the card in his hand. "GET THIS TO CANA!" With a poof, he disappeared. A large blue streak of electricity cut through the sky and snapped the rope. The vortex rocketed towards the heavens and into the tear. It rapidly started to close and soon held no evidence of ever being there.

Natsu sat on his knees, slamming his fists to the ground. Tears streaming down his face, he looked to the sky. "LUCY!"


	2. Chapter 2

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 2 A New World**

Natsu Dragneel stepped outside of his little house with a stretch. He had been unpacking his belonging and trying to make this small 3 bedroom house livable again. It's been years since his family had been there to stay near Magnolia. His family usually lived in Crocus for most of the year and once they bought a summer house on a beach, the one in the forest that was on the outskirts of Magnolia seemed to be almost forgotten.

Natsu looked around the front yard with a sigh and started to grumble to himself. "Luckily I came several weeks before school started. I didn't realize the house would need so much work." He already changed the bed sheets in the master bedroom and took the plastic slips off of all of the other furniture. Natsu had checked all of the faucets, both toilets and showers, and all electrical devices to make sure everything was functioning correctly. He cleaned the kitchen just enough to make it useable and put away all of the perishable groceries he bought while he was in town checking out the college.

He finally finished doing his warm up stretches and started jogging. It was always the first step in his workout regime and he wanted to push himself tonight. He always loved the forests and the valleys and looked forward to camping trips that his friends all went on. Natsu took a deep breath, taking in the smell of the wilderness around him. _Much better than smelling the pollution from the big cities. _

Natsu had always enjoyed exploring new areas, but this area brought back nostalgic memories of when he was younger and they would come to visit relatives that lived in the city. Since his father and his siblings always bickered, his father, Igneel, bought land away from town and built a nice little house. Natsu missed his cousins, even if all they ever did was fight, so he was excited to finally start going to the same school as some of them.

He entered a clearing of the forest, showing a large valley. He smiled, seeing the sun already starting to set and the sky changing to a pink hue that competed with his hair. _I suppose I should turn around soon so I don't get lost in the dark. It has been several years since I've been back. _

A loud crack startled Natsu and he stopped running. He watched as the sky above him began to rip itself open; he felt his mouth hang open in shock and couldn't help but stare. Inside of this tear in the sky, there was the most peculiar purple light that glowed off of black, swirling clouds. Blue streaks of angry lightening could be seen teasing the edges of the tear, as if they were enticing it to grow. He felt panic inside him growing. _Should I run home? Go to town? I didn't bring my cell phone to call for help. _

Just as Natsu was turning around, making up his mind to race home and drive to town, a small figure falling from the crack in the sky caught his attention. He watched as the shaped became bigger and he realized it was a person. Without thinking, he tore after the falling person at a ferocious pace. He watched the person falling, never taking his eyes off of . . . her..? He heard someone yell his name faintly. HIS NAME! Shaking that thought out of his head he continued to run, his legs burning from the exertion. _ALMOST THERE! _Natsu jumped, catching the young woman, and he twisted just in time so he took the brunt of the fall.

_OWW! _His whole body was sore from the impact of the crash. He laid there for a minute, temporarily forgetting what just happened. Opening his eyes and craning his neck, he saw blonde hair splayed across his chest. His arms were still tightly wrapped around the petite frame, pressing her protectively against him. He sat up gingerly, shifting her across his lap. She wasn't moving and panic started to set in until he looked at her chest. _WHEW! She's still breathing and HOLY SHIT!_ He gaped at her large, busty chest, for the first time realizing it's size; he blushed and looked away. Glancing at the sky, he saw that there was no evidence of the purple glow against the dark clouds and the blue lightening.

He frowned in the young girl's direction. _No one would ever believe me. _Looking to her face, he chuckled; her hair was covering most of it. He gently brushed the blonde strands off and he felt his breath hitch. _Is she an angel?_ He stared at her, with the soft light of the sunset making her features almost glow. Her clothes looked normal enough, a simple pink shirt and a very short jean skirt with a pair of boots. She looked like she could easily be a model, not just from her body, but her facial features as well. Looking at the darkening sky, he cursed softly. He gently picked her up and carried her to his house.

* * *

Lucy couldn't remember what exactly happened. She would have thought that it was all just a dream, but her screaming body said otherwise. The weird fortune card. . . The rip in the sky. . . The wind picking her up. . . The ropes digging into her sides. . . A light flash then she was pulled away. . . She faintly heard Natsu's muffled scream. . . Purple and blue slashes in the dark. . . Then she was falling.

She gently opened her eyes. _Where am I? _She warily looked around the strange room, trying to rack her brain if it was familiar. She shifted her body to sit up and let out a painful groan. Hearing footsteps from the other room, she glanced at the door nervously. _What if it's someone bad? I mean this room looks nice and all, homey really. _She watched the door as it slowly creaked open and saw a familiar pink haired head poke inside. Relief washed over her as she smiled at him.

Natsu was a little on edge sitting on the couch in the other room. He was too nervous to eat, which is saying a lot for him since his appetite is usually big enough for 3 people. He placed the blonde girl that fell out of the sky in the master bedroom of the house. _Who would have thought I could actually say that I did that? _He sat in the main room of the house with his head in his hands trying to figure out what just happened. Hearing a soft groan from the other room, he jumped up and raced over. Carefully opening the door, trying as much as possible to be quiet (which is apparently impossible since it creaked so loud). _Note to self, fix the creaky doors. _

When he looked in, he saw her staring with petrified eyes in his direction. Before he could say anything reassuring to her, she relaxed and smiled at him. _Okay. . . WEIRD. _"Hi. . I uh. . Are you okay. . Miss?"

He shyly stepped in the room and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. She tilted her head and stared at him with her large, chocolate brown eyes reflecting confusion. _CRAP! What if she doesn't speak English. What am I supposed to freaking do then? _He smiled what he knew had to be an awkward smile and took a few steps closer to her. Sitting gingerly on the bed he put his hand out. "I'm Natsu." He felt his smile turn more genuine as she carefully took his hand with her own.

Lucy couldn't say anything. So much was racing through her head at once. _What is Natsu wearing? He isn't wearing his scarf?! Miss?! That's a first! He just introduced himself to me?! Is this not Natsu? I mean he told me that is his name, but. . . Is this not my Natsu? OH! Did I go to. . Another version of our world?! This doesn't look like Edolas, and that Natsu knows me. Both me. Are there more than just one version of the world? He's staring at me. His hand is wam like Natsu's. Wait?! When did I take his hand? Well DUH! He is Natsu! Not my Natsu but. . MY NATSU? Where'd that thought come from? OH CRAP! He's still staring at me! I must look dense or something. Quick, Lucy, say something! Anything!_

Pulling her hand back, she looked down as she painfully pulled herself into a sitting position. "I. ." She bit her lip and looked around slowly. "Where are we?"

Natsu sighed with relief and internally thanked the superior powers of fate that she spoke English. That will definitely help them share what just happened with each other. "My house. I. . brought you here since you were unconscious."

She watched him with a guarded expression. "Unconscious? Please tell me everything!"

Natsu gulped. _How the hell do I explain what happened?! I don't even know myself! Well I'll try. _"Well, I uh . . I was out jogging and I heard a loud sound. I looked at the sky." He frowned and rubbed his hand through his hair. "I don't know how to explain it." He looked into her earnest brown eyes.

"Please try."

Dragging his hand down his face, he let out a long sigh. "Fine. But. . I don't even know your name."

Lucy mentally smacked herself! _DUH! He introduced himself, I didn't say my name at all! _She smiled lightly at him. "Lucy."

He beamed at her, making butterflies in her stomach suddenly go active. "Nice to meet you Lucy." She looked down, feeling like her face was on fire and wondered if she was wearing some goofy smile on her face. _AHHHH! I already know him! I mean we are best friends. Why am I acting like some awkward school girl. _She chanced another glance at him and was relieved that he was looking at the doorway behind him. "I'll be right back."

She felt his weight leave the bed as he walked quickly out of the room. He returned soon with something blue in his arms. "Do you like cats? You're not allergic are you?" He held up a small BLUE cat. It was a normal cat, not an Exceed, just the same shade of blue of Happy.

Lucy had to restrain herself from asking in surprise if that was actually Happy. _Of course it is! Natsu and his blue cat! Just like normal, even if this one is a normal one that can't talk, or can it? "_I love cats." She smiled at his relieved expression. "So, getting back to your story. ."

He walked over to the bed and gently tossed Happy on the covers. Happy turned and gave Natsu what Lucy would assume is a glare, from a cat it was kinda hard to tell. The blue cat proceeded to walk over and rub itself gently against Lucy's hand until she started to pet it. She felt the purr vibrate in her hand as she smiled down at him. Glancing back to Natsu, he flopped on the base of the large bed and stared uncertainly at her.

"You're going to think I'm crazy, but the sky opened up and you were falling so I caught you." He watched her expression while he gave her a rushed summary. She seemed to absorb the information well. _A little too well! _Natsu watched her absent mindedly nod her head and look at the cat in her lap. He chuckled awkwardly. "Crazy story, right?"

She looked at him seriously. "No."

He felt his jaw drop in surprise. "How is that not crazy?"

She bit her lip and searched his eyes, deciding on what to tell him. "I . . I'm not from this world."

He stared at her in disbelief before rolling on the bed, laughing. "So your some kind of what. . ? Alien?"

She frowned at him. "What?! Are you stupid?!" He stopped rolling on the bed and watched her, amused and interested in what she was going to say next. "I'm from an alternative version of this world. You, yourself, saw me come through!"

He thought about it; made sense, but still hard to believe even for him even though he did see it all first hand. "Why are you so understanding and calm about this?"

She giggled awkwardly and looked away. "Well, this wouldn't be my first trip to an alternative world." He stared at her as if she had grown another head. _Shouldn't be surprised about that! That is a weird thing to be told._

"You've been to another world?"

She laughed at how that must sound. "Yea! I hope this one isn't as weird as that one." She watched him process the new information with amusement.

"Hey Luigi. ." Felt herself face palm before breaking out in laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Just, funny how some things don't change in different places." She smiled fondly at him. "It's Lucy by the way."

"Familiar? What do you mean by that?" He watched her tilt her head in thought and could tell she was deciding on how to answer. "Have you met me before? In your world?" She stared blankly at him, not knowing how to respond. She slowly nodded her head.

He felt his smile grow bigger. "What am I like there? How do you know me?"

"Well, you're a bit of a hot head, but you do anything for your friends. We are . . . good friends. We go on quests all of the time and. ."

"Quests?"

She gave him a questioning glance. "Yea, jobs that people send to our guild."

He chuckled, "Sounds like some video game with wizards and elves and dragons."

Her face paled. "Yea. ." Lucy felt around her waist. "Hey, Natsu, did I have keys on me when you found me?"

He watched her curiously. Her response wasn't what he was expecting. "Yea. ." He slowly got off the bed and went to the dresser and came back with her belongings. "Here."

The relieve that washed over her brought tears to her eyes. Natsu could barely make out the soft whisper, "Thank goodness" as she tenderly touched each key.

"What are those?" Natsu asked as he stretched across the bed diagonally so he was closer to her this time. He eyed the keys with interest and curiosity.

"Well, I'll explain it to you another time."

He held back a frown. "Fine. Hey Luigi, are you hungry?"

She stared at him with amusement. "It's Lucy, and I suppose I could eat something."

He grinned and bounced off of the bed. "Great!" He stopped in the doorway and looked at her, concern clouding his features. "Are you able to get up?"

She gingerly shifted so her feet hung off the bed and gently pushed herself off so her feet touched the floor. She felt her legs wobble and her knees buckle. Just before she collapsed, she felt a warm arm wrap around her waist. She yelped in pain as he helped her stand. She turned and put her hands on the bed for support so he didn't have to steady her. She felt tears sting her eyes as she tried to focus on standing instead of the pain. "Are you okay Lucy?"

She smirked to herself. _So he does know my name._ "Yea, I'll be fine. Can you help me to the restroom." She looked over to see him nervously shift his weight from one foot to the other. "OH! No, I don't have to go, I just needed to look at something in the mirror."

"OH! Well here!" He energetically bounced to the door and closed it. "There's a mirror on the door."

_DUH! I can't believe I forgot about that! _ She stuck out her arm and he took it and helped her walk to the door. She looked at her reflection and sighed. _I look terrible. _She lifted her shirt with her free hand and heard him gasp. She saw a dark bruise around her waist where the rope had been. She glanced quickly at his face in the mirror and their eyes met. She lowered her shirt and cleared her throat awkwardly. He slowly helped her out of the bedroom and into the main room. She stared in wonder at everything. It held a familiar air to her world's Natsu's house, just well furnished and larger. It actually had bedrooms and looked completed, and didn't have a tree growing out of it. "Wow."

Natsu raided his eyebrow at her. "What?"

She shook her head with a soft giggle. They made their way to the kitchen and he sat her down. "Hello, welcome to Café de Dragneel. I will be your chef this evening. What can I get for you?" He grinned playfully, giving her a low bow.

She giggled. "Do I have a menu?"

"Ah oui, mademoiselle, I have it right here!" He answered with a smirk, pointing to his head.

She felt her smile stretch across her face. "Monsieur, I will take the finest that you can recommend." She sat up as stiffly as she could muster, and tried to put on a regal face.

His smirk turned into a full blown grin and he could barely contain his chuckle. "Grilled cheese it is!" She lost her composure and laughed. He soon got to work making a small pile of sandwiches. He added chili flakes to his and she requested her to be "plain".

He told her about himself, explaining how he was about to start college and this is his parents older summer home that they rarely use anymore. He told a story of how an old childhood friend and him found Happy several years ago not too far from where he is currently living. That the same childhood friend went missing a couple of years ago, presumably dead. He told her about his cousins and his close friends, not really going into names, just general details.

She listened, smiling at how similar yet different everything was.

She yawned, trying to fight her exhaustion; he gave her a concerned look. "You've been through a lot. Let's get you to bed." She smiled up to him shyly as he helped her into the bedroom. He watched her grab the bed to steady herself and realized that she was still in her clothes. "Would you like to change your clothes first to be more comfortable? Unless your more comfortable in a skirt. I wouldn't know how comfy that is." She looked over and saw his blushing face, eyes avoiding hers.

"Sure. Actually, can I take a bath? I think I can manage myself, I am feeling a bit stronger than before."

He grinned. "Sure! There is a restroom right there, I'll go grab something for you to wear and a towel." He watched her steady herself and start to walk towards the restroom before bolting to his suitcase.

Lucy walked into the restroom and gazed around the room. The while marble tiles on the floor matched the counters. The large shower could easily fit 4 people comfortably, and the bath tub was much longer and wider than hers. She walked over to the tub and stared at all of the nobs. _I have never been so confused on how to use something so basic. Jacuzzi setting? Bubbles on/off? What the heck is whirlpool setting?_ Lucy jumped when she heard a familiar chuckle behind her. She refused to turn around and look at him, embarrassed at not being able to figure this out. "Sorry, I forgot that my parents upgraded this tub to 'super complicated' as well. I'll turn it on for you. . . . And this is how you turn it off. . And here is where you adjust the temperature."

She smiled gratefully at him. She looked down to his arm and saw a large, white fluffy towel. He set it on the small counter next to the tub and set clothes next to that. She eyed the clothes curiously. Natsu sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, "Sorry I don't have any girl clothes. I just had to give you some of mine. I hope you don't mind." His cheeks were almost as pink as his hair.

"Thank you." She smiled sweetly. He left the room and she cautiously took off her clothes and gingerly sat in the tub. After she soaked for 15 minutes, she carefully got out and dried herself off. She looked in the mirror at her bruise again and winced. _I hope this heals quickly. _She grabbed the clothes and shrugged on the black t shirt and grabbed the shorts. She squealed and dropped it. _BOXERS! I'm going to wear his boxers. _Lucy jumped as she heard a knock at the door. "Hey Luce, is everything okay?"

She looked at the door, her whole body trembling. _He called me Luce. _She looked at herself in the mirror, trying to find some composure. "Yea! Just surprised myself. Sorry."

She picked up the boxers and slid them on. They were a little big for her petite waist but she was sure they wouldn't fall off with her walking around. She opened the door and gasped. Natsu was standing there in a towel, his hair dripping wet. "I heard you squeal and I got worried and rushed over here. You're okay? Didn't fall or anything?"

Lucy gulped. _He looks just like my Natsu! Ugh, why do I keep saying 'my Natsu'? But holy smokes. Avoid staring, focus on his face. He looks so concerned._ She smiled awkwardly and just nodded. He nodded and looked at the clothes she was wearing before walking away quickly. Her gaze followed him, trying to convince herself that she shouldn't wish for his towel to just fall off. She looked towards the bed and spotted the blue cat. _Is he freaking grinning at me?! Ugh! STUPID CAT!_

Natsu went into the main restroom and shut the door quickly. _Holy crap! I wasn't expecting to feel so happy seeing her in my clothes. I don't know how, but even though it shows less skin, it makes her look even sexier. SEXIER? What am I thinking?! I just met her, and she doesn't even belong here. I shouldn't be thinking like this. _Natsu glanced in the mirror and blushed fiercely. _I forgot I'm just in my towel. No wonder she stared at me with that expression. I hope she doesn't think I'm some kind of pervert. Maybe if I don't act weird about it, she won't either. Just pretend this didn't happen. _

Natsu got dressed and walked out into the main living room area. _Well I don't have any extra sheets for the other 2 rooms and I don't have time to wash the sheets tonight, so I'll just sleep on the hammock. _He walked over and plopped down, ripping right through the hammock. Landing with a loud thud on the ground, he started to curse under his breath. Lucy walked in curiously, "You okay? I heard a loud noise." She giggled at the sight of him.

He looked at himself and laughed. His feet were tangled in the pieces of hammock that didn't break, hanging still, and his upper body was on the floor, except for his left arm which was also tangled above him. Lucy walked over and extended her arm. He waved her off, mumbling something about how she is too injured to help and finally escaped the hammock. He inspected it closer and decided it needed to be replaced, it must have been too old.

"Do you need the bed? I can sleep on the couch."

Natsu smiled at her sincere offer. "Nah, I'll sleep on the couch. Get some rest."

* * *

Natsu woke up several hours after falling asleep. He sat up, trying to remember why he woke up in the first place. He heard some noises from the room the blonde girl was staying in and groggily shuffled over, slowly creaking the door open. _Damn door! _He looked around in the dark, trying to make out where she was. "Lucy, you awake? I thought I heard something. I just wanted to make sure everything is okay." He heard soft crying and slowly walked over to the bed, sitting down. "Hey, you okay?" He felt a hand grab him and yank him into a hug and she cried into his shoulder. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, unsure of what to say so he just hugged her back.

Once her breath evened out, and he was sure she had stopped crying, he felt her let go. He slowly released her and moved to get up. Her hand caught his and she pulled him closer. "Would it be weird if I asked you to stay the night in here with me? I . . I don't think I want to be alone."

He felt his breath hitch. _Seriously? Should I say yes? Will she remember in the morning that she asked me to. I can't just leave her. _"Yeah, I'll stay." He stretched out beside her, staying above the sheet. She kept hold of his hand until they were both deep in slumber.

**My goal is to update this once a week, so I apologize if it takes longer; these chapters are at least twice as long as my other story's chapters and I try to post those chapters twice a week. I plan on posting chapter 3 next Friday as long as things go smoothly for school. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this story. **


	3. Chapter 3

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 3 Adjustments **

The guild doors slam open and Erza storms in. "Where is the Master?" Everyone present eyed her curiously before Mira mentions he is in his office. Erza nods curtly and walked in that direction.

Gray walked in and wordlessly looked around the room until he spotted Cana at a table. Mira stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "Gray, is something wrong? I haven't seen Erza have that expression in a long time." Gray stared at her, not knowing what to say. He finally managed to mumble something about Erza is handling it. Mira looked around, not pacified by his answer. "Well where is everyone else? Where's Wendy and Carla?"

Gray stepped around her answering. "Went home to Fairy Hills."

Mira frowned. "And Natsu and Happy?"

Gray slowed and glanced at her blue eyes before slowly replying. "They . . Natsu refuses to come back for now. He said he has a few things to figure out."

Mira was floored by this revelation. "And. . . and Lucy?"

Gray grimaced and turned back to his destination, not answering Mira as he walked over to Cana. "Cana, I have a few questions for you."

Cana put down her tankard of beer and glared at Gray with her Violet eyes. "What is it Gray?"

Gray flicked the card to Cana, who expertly caught it between two fingers, and she perused over it. "Loke asked me to have you look at it."

Cana's face scrunched up in concern, she leaned forward and seriously regarded Gray. Cana spoke in a low, frantic voice, "Where did you get this?!"

Gray's eyes narrowed. "What does it mean?"

Cana jumped up, grabbing Gray by the front of his shirt. "WHERE did you get this?"

Gray was astonished, it was rare to see Cana loose her cool like this, even during the Phantom attacks and the attacks on Tenrou Island she was more collected. Gray snatched the front of his shirt out of her hands and glared at her. "This was given to Lucy."

Cana scanned the room worriedly. "Where's Lucy?" Her eyes met his when he remained silent. "Where is she, Gray?"

He looked away, answering croakily. "Gone."

Cana collapsed into the seat, her head in her hands and started to contemplate what to do. "Gray, I need you to tell me everything."

* * *

Natsu woke up the next morning with a low yawn. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, thinking back on the events of the previous evening. He suddenly stiffened, realizing that not only is someone laying against him, but they are starting to stir. He looked down and gulped. _When did I end up under the covers? _She stopped stirring and seemed to drift back asleep. After several minutes, he carefully turned her so she rolled off of him, and he untangled their legs slowly. He slipped out of the bed and walked to the door, grateful that he left the door open. His blue cat stared at him in the doorway. _Don't give me that look cat! We didn't do anything!_ He stepped over the cat and went to his suitcase. He changed and threw his clothes he wore yesterday along with her clothes into the washer and went out for a morning jog. He had a few bruises from when he caught her last night, but figured that jogging wouldn't bother them too much. He really needed to clear his thoughts and think about what is happening to his life.

When people tell you that moving out and going to college is an adventure, he definitely wasn't expecting this. He jogged along the same path as yesterday and came across the clearing. He stopped near a tree and stared at the sky with a frown. He looked around the clearing for anything that might belong to his mysterious blonde friend. Spying a rope, walked over to it. Picking it up, he saw that it had burns in a few placed. He wrapped it up and took it with him for the rest of his jog.

Once he arrived back home he quietly slipped inside. The entire house smelled amazing. Tossing the rope on a coffee table, he followed his nose to the kitchen and there next to the stove, stood the blonde, still in his clothes, cooking a breakfast feast. She had pancakes already made, toast with jam on the table. He saw a few pans on the stove, one he could tell was filled with omelets, the other he guessed by the smell was bacon. His mouth was watering, he stepped behind her. "That smells amazing!"

She jumped and turned around, wincing in the process. "Sorry Lucy! I didn't mean to scare you!"

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers and she held a hand to her chest where the heart is located. She giggled lightly after a few seconds and shrugged it off.

He looked around the table. "You must be hungry!" He glanced back to her with an eyebrow raised. "Where do you put it all?"

She shot him a dirty look before inquiring. "How much food do you normally eat?

Natsu was surprised by this and looked back at the table. "A lot actually, how'd you know? I didn't eat that much last night."

She grinned. "Some things are the same." He smiled and left the room to put the laundry in the dryer and throw some sheets in the wash. He came back to the kitchen and sat patiently at the table for her to join him.

Lucy turned around with an omelet and placed it in front of him. She placed a bottle of hot sauce next to him with a side plate of bacon before serving herself a plate and sitting across from him. "So Lucy, tell me a little about yourself. Your life. Maybe about the me you know?"

She smiled. "Where do I begin?" She stared at him in consideration.

"Tell me about the Natsu you know."

"I guess I didn't say much last night, did I? We are good friends."

He raised his eyebrow suggestively. "How good of friends?"

She felt her face blush. "Uh. . Well we are really close, best friends in fact." She stared at her breakfast. She can't bear looking at him. "We take on all of our quests . . Er. . jobs together. Sometimes we group up with Erza and Gray. ."

"ERZA AND GRAY ARE THERE?!"

She looked up laughing. "Yea."

"What are they like there?" His eyes intently watching her as he cut into his omelet and took a bite. "Holy crap! This is amazing!" He eyed her suspiciously. "Do you make these for the other Natsu as well?"

She smiled proudly. "Yep! He said I make the best omelets since I make them extra spicy!"

"Oh so he likes spicy things as well?"

"Yea, well I guess it's expected of a fire mage after all . . "

She heard his fork clatter on his plate. She looked up to his blank face. "A what?"

"Oh. . Well. . I guess I never went into detail about that before did I. ." She awkwardly laughed, slowly putting her fork down. "Where I come from, it's a land of magic. Everyone in the guild I spoke of earlier, they are all mages, wizards you can say. We all have different types of magic."

"And I'm a fire mage?" He put in slowly.

Lucy nodded, leaning in. "Not just any fire mage! You're what they call a Dragon Slayer. You use Fire Dragon Slaying magic. That itself is pretty rare." His eyes grew wide with wonder and excitement. She continued. "You're actually kinda famous. They call you The Salamander."

His eyes shined as if they had stars in them. "Why am I famous?"

She giggled and picked up her fork and added. "Well, uh . . . You're very powerful, and . . . destructive." She watched him frown before continuing. "You tend to leave damage wherever we work. It cuts into our rewards a lot of the time."

"What kind of guild are we? Is it a bad guild?"

"NOOOO! Just reckless! How can I put it. . ." She put her hand under her chin thoughtfully. "We do a lot of good in the world, even though the Magic Council tends to get mad at us, which is understandable since of the destructive part. But we take out great evils so a lot of the time the destruction isn't exactly our fault. But my world's version of you gets," she giggled lightly, " 'Fired Up' and carried away." Natsu didn't seem too convinced, Lucy let out a sigh.

"So, what kind of magic do you have?" He started to cut his food into bite size pieces. Lucy watched him with amusement. _Weird, I've never seen Natsu eat like a normal person. _"I actually use what's called celestial magic. I summon spirits from the celestial world."

He stared at her deep in thought. "Celestial, like stars?"

She beamed. "YEA!" She pulled out her keys enthusiastically and explained which keys go to which spirit and the difference between the silver and gold. Natsu seemed impressed and was excited when she said she would try to show him later. She explained the main types of magic and how they differ from one another, she even explained Erza and Gray's magic. Natsu was shocked when she described how Happy could not only talk, he walked on two legs and his magic let him use white wings to fly. Laughing, she rested her chin on her hand and watched him dig into another pancake. "Do you have a sketchbook? It was a mandatory for my education growing up to be proficient in art. Maybe I could sketch a few pictures to show you."

"No, but I did plan on going to the store later. Maybe I will pick one up."

Lucy put her hands up. "Oh don't worry about it."

"No really, it's fine, I'm curious about it. I'd love to see some of the pictures."

Lucy smiled and started to clean up the mess on the table; when Natsu started to help, Lucy insisted for him to not worry since he was letting her stay there for the time being. Natsu stretched and mumbled something about taking a quick shower and sauntered off. Soon Lucy was finished with the dishes and continued to tidy up the kitchen, wiping away any residue of forgotten years and mopped the floors until they shined like new. Clearly satisfied, she walked out into the living room and frowned. She could see a hasty attempt of cleaning that Natsu must have done the day before and decided that she could lend a hand. This would be much easier than the time she cleaned Natsu and Happy's house in her own world.

She picked up the rope and a shiver went down her spine. Natsu came out of the restroom clean and in a different outfit, he looked at her curiously. "I found that near where you fell." He grabbed the rope out of her shaky hands.

"Yea? I'm not surprised. Loke and Virgo, my spirits, used it to tie me to a tree to prevent me from being taken away by. . the sky."

Natsu stared incredulously at her, as she briefly told him about the fortune card and what happened right before she was ripped from her homeland. Natsu gave her a solomn nod, not knowing how to comfort his new friend. She started to tidy up around her, cleaning the coffee table and side tables. "What are you doing?" Natsu inquired, placing the robe on the fire place mantle.

Lucy answered without looking up. "Oh, well just tidying up a bit. You were so nice as to let me stay here and take care of me, it's the least I can do." She smiled up at him sweetly. She didn't want to admit that it was also a great distraction from her thoughts.

Scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, it's fine really. You don't have to clean, I really don't mind you staying here as long as you need to. There are plenty of rooms and it's just Happy and me." He looked away, avoiding making eye contact. _I hope I don't sound weird or anything. Offering to let her stay alone with some guy she barely knows in a small house in the woods. This has horror movie written all over it. I know I look familiar and act like a little like the guy she knows, but truth be told, we don't know each other. _

He chanced a quick glance to her and was amazed; she was looking at him a considerate expression. "Thank you." She smiled and looked down. "It really is nice of you to let me stay here. Some strange girl that fell out of the sky claiming to come from an alternative universe and not only do you believe me, you trust me enough to stay here." She looked at him, tears threatening to form. "Thank you, Natsu."

He laughed lightly. "No problem, Luce!" He winked, giving her a thumbs up, causing her to giggle. He looked at her thoughtfully. "Did you want to head to the store with me? I have a few things I need to pick up and having some company might be nice." He gave her a toothy grin.

"Yea, well I'll need to get changed first." She sighed, looking down at her outfit.

Natsu laughed awkwardly. "Oh, yeah. I forgot, I put your clothes in the washing machine. The dryer should be done by now. I'll go get them." He left the room, avoiding looking at her. _I don't know if it's weird that I did that, I hate to make things more awkward. _Natsu opened the dryer and dumped everything in a laundry basket and made his way to the couch. He set it down and before he could start going through it all, she walked over and proceeded to dig out her own clothes, murmuring her thanks. She quickly went back to the master bedroom and got changed.

A few minutes later, Lucy returned in her normal clothes and Natsu opened the door. Lucy looked around at the outside and sighed in relief. When she spotted Natsu's curious look she explained, "When I went to Edolas, the other . . ah . . 'world', Everything was crazy. There were rivers in the sky and floating islands and. . . What's so funny?!" She glowered at him.

He looked up at the sky lightheartedly. "Floating islands and rivers in the sky. Just . . Wow." He glanced at her with amusement. "I'd like to hear more about that story sometime soon."

Lucy smiled, and followed him as he walked next to the house and entered a small building. When he turned the lights on, she stared curiously at the vehicle in front of her. "This is a car?" Natsu turned and looked at Lucy curiously. "I've seen something similar to this in Edolas. How is this powered?"

Natsu stared at the car thoughtfully. "Uh . . I'm not a mechanic and I don't know how much you understand our technology, but I'll describe it to the best of my abilities on the way. He unlocked the car with a click of his button on his key; Lucy jumped when the car beeped, causing Natsu to laugh again. As he drove down the winding dirt road, he explained basic car knowledge. Then she in turn explained how the magic powered vehicles in her world worked and the lacrima powered vehicles in Edolas worked. He seemed pretty interested in the magic powered ones, saying something about it being effectively 'green' which Lucy didn't quite understand but let it slide anyways.

Natsu soon pulled off of the dirt road and was driving on a black pavement road. Lucy watched the landscape rapidly change around them with awe. Natsu couldn't help but feel amused at her reactions, they seemed so innocent and filled with wonder. Once they reached Onibus, Natsu parked in the downtown district and hurried Lucy out of the car. He energetically grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the nearest store. "Okay Lucy, go find a few outfits, I'll be right back." With that he let go of her wrist and disappeared.

Lucy stared around her with wonder. _SUCH CUTE OUTFITS!_ She went through and picked out a few things she loved. A few of the brands were familiar, but the style was completely different than what they had. She tried out several outfits, finding SEVERAL that she absolutely loved, before she remembered she didn't have her money with her, not that it would help. She watched people pay with plastic cards and decided that she will just have to ask Natsu if he could take her back to Magnolia to look for a job or something until she can afford things. She asked the cashier if she could hold items and for how long and more disappointment set in when she found out it was only for one day without payment.

Soon Natsu returned with a few bags and found Lucy sitting on a stool in the shoe department trying on tennis shoes. She glanced up and smiled at him. "Hey Natsu, I was wondering if we can head to Magnolia later, I'd like to find a job or two so I can buy some outfits." She started taking off the shoes and put them back in the box.

Natsu laughed lightly. "Well I can tell you, we don't have jobs like what you described you usually do. It's more demeaning labor, and you get back in either one week to two week increments." Lucy's face dropped. "Don't worry, I'll cover you today."

"NO! I couldn't ask you to do that! Don't worry, I'll just wash my outfit every night!"

Natsu glanced at her, amused. "And what? Wear my clothes to bed at night?" Lucy felt her face grow red as she looked away. Natsu simply laughed and waved it off. "Don't worry 'bout it. Really!" Natsu grabbed the box of shoes and placed them on the counter for the lady to put on hold until they were done. Lucy walked around and started to look at the clothes again. Looking at the prices, she couldn't quite tell if they were really cheap, or the money system was just very different. Deciding it must be the later, she tried to find lower priced items, not wanting to feel any guiltier than she already was feeling. She found a few skirts and a nice blouse. She turned to Natsu who was holding up a dress awkwardly. "What about this?" She took it and went to the dressing room.

She came out in the new skirts and he raised his eyebrow. "Do you always wear things that short?"

A blush formed on her cheeks. "What? Well . . I have several ones like this. . I don't see anything wrong with . ."

"How do you fight monsters and kick butt in something like that?"

The blush deepened. "I guess . . I'm just awesome. .?"

He laughed lightly and walked away. She frowned and tried on the dress and other skirts. When she finished, she opened the door to only have him hand her several more outfits and closed the door. _I guess there are some differences, I'm not used to Natsu shopping. _

Once Lucy was done she came up to Natsu who was focusing his attention on a little black and red device in his hands. Lucy looked at it with curiosity. "What's that?"

He glanced at her. "My phone."

She stared dumbfounded. "What?"

"Phone. It's a smart phone. Don't you guys have phones there?" She cocked her head to the side, waiting to listen further. He let a smirk slip across his lips. "What, do you only communicate by letter or something."

She huffed. "No! We use communication lacrimas! It's a large crystal ball that we can speak to others with, otherwise we just . . send letters." He laughed, shaking his head. She leaned over to look at the screen. "So are you contacting someone?"

"Nah, just playing a game." She stared at the screen. 'TETRIS' was written across the screen with multicolor blocks layered on the bottom. There was a large 'll' in the middle of the screen with a box around the word 'Continue'. She stared at him with wonder.

"Wow."

He laughed, putting it away. "I'll show you more later." After leaving that store with several bags, Natsu started to walk again with her trailing next to him looking at all of the windows of the shops. He turned to ask her something and noticed that Lucy wasn't next to him. Feeling panic arise in his chest he snapped his head around and frantically scanned the sidewalk. It wasn't hard to spot her, staring with exhilaration into the window of the book shop. He made his way back and stood next to her. "Like to read?" When she looked at him, he could practically see stars in her eyes.

"YEA! I love to read!" No sooner had the words left her mouth that she was being dragged in. "Noooo . . ." Natsu looked at her with confusion. "Please Natsu, maybe another time." Lucy couldn't bear having him buy her books too after he paid for the clothes. She was used to Natsu invading her home, eating all of her food, and destroying so much that she had to pay out of her reward. She had already tried to reason with herself that the clothes were just payback, but the fact that this wasn't the same Natsu overruled that and her guilt came back in full force.

Natsu frowned. "Fine, well if I don't pick you up a book, I insist on at least getting you an ice cream cone. I can't in good consciousness buy one for myself and enjoy it in front of you without having you enjoy one as well." She frowned but let him pull her over to the ice cream shop. She ordered a strawberry cone and he ordered chocolate chipotle.

She watched him eat it curiously. "I've never heard of that flavor before."

He beamed at her. "Yea, it's my favorite. I was originally going to head to Hargeon today, but I heard my favorite ice cream place opened up a new location here so I thought we should try it." She smiled back in response. He held his cone out, "Want to try it?"

She felt her face flush and shook her head. He shrugged and casually continued to eat his ice cream. He glanced over and watched her absentmindedly rub her hand where a pink tattoo was.

"What is that?" Lucy glanced at him curiously. He pointed to her hand. "The pink tattoo."

"Oh," Lucy held up her hand so he could see it clearer. "This is my guild mark, everyone in the guild has one. Yours is red on your shoulder." She poked his arm where her version of him has the mark. He just hummed softly in response.

Once the ice cream was long gone, they continued to stroll through the town. Upon passing the local theatre, Lucy told Natsu the story of her job where they had to perform on stage. A playful grin appeared on his face. "Well, for my school, I am supposed to volunteer there for a few weeks for performances, maybe I'll have to drag you there with me since you have such great experience." She laughed, giving him a light shove.

On the way home, they stopped at a grocery store to pick up some groceries and headed back to the house. Once back, Natsu took the sheets out of the dryer and started to place them in his old room. He looked around and decided that it definitely needed to be tidied up. He hastily wiped off the dressers and picture frames before sweeping the floor. Looking around, he decided that it was clean enough for the time being. The smell of food drifted through the air and lured him to the kitchen where Lucy was cooking dinner. "MMMM. Smells amazing! Whatcha makin' Lucy?"

She turned around to see his big lopsided grin. After feeling the butterflies swarm her stomach for the umpteenth time that day, she incoherently stammered out something about curry. Watching him take another deep breath, pure joy on his face, she blushed and turned back around. _My face is flushed from the cooking. YEAH! The cooking! Nothing to do with Natsu, the guy I'm currently living with. . *Mental squeal*. Gosh what would the guild say. OH NO! WHAT IS THE GUILD GOING TO SAY?! I wonder if they are going to be able to find me. What if Natsu is the one that comes. Of course he will be. OH NO! What will Natsu do to Natsu?! _Lucy giggled lightly at herself as she served up a large plate of rice and a very generous helping of curry before making a small plate for herself. She turned to the vision of Natsu sitting at the table, his head resting on his hand, quizzically observing her. Lucy clumsily smiled and positioned his plate in front of him.

Natsu continued to silently watch her even after she sat down and started eating. Lucy felt like she could almost cut the thick tension in the air with a knife. He finally chuckled and started eating. She poked her food around on her plate, not hungry. "Lucy. ." She looked into his olive, green eyes. "You okay?" She painted on a smile that she hoped could pass as a real one and nodded. It apparently failed. He put down his fork. "Luce. ." A cord in her heart strung. _Luce. In his strained voice. AHHHHH! That's what my Natsu always says. WOHA WOAH WOAH! I need to stop with the 'my Natsu' bit. C'mon girl! GET. IT. TOGETHER. _Lucy let out a long sigh and stared at her plate. "Are you feeling homesick?"

Natsu watched his new, blonde friend battle some inner turmoil. _I wish I could help her. I don't know what I can do. _He suddenly stood up and wordlessly left the room. Lucy stared at the doorway with confusion until he entered with a bag and set it down in front of her. He sat in his chair and watched her attentively.

She frowned and slowly opened the bag. Inside was a sketchbook with colored pencils and charcoal. She looked to Natsu who was wearing his lopsided grin again. "Thank you Natsu." She held it close to her, thinking back to the last time she sketched something. It had to have been a few months. She tried to keep it up every now and then so she didn't get rusty.

Natsu watched her face light up and it filled his heart. He wolfed down his food in an unfashionable manner for him, which she didn't seem to notice. Seeing that she wasn't going to eat much more of her own, he helped her cleanup the rest before going out into the living room. It was already getting late so he decided to ask Lucy if she'd like to go on an evening walk to get some fresh air before bed.

Lucy practically dragged Natsu out of the house and once outside she stared up at the sky. He followed her gaze to the stars. "Natsu . ." He hummed in response. "Do you want to see my magic?" He looked at her curiously as she let her gaze wander to his face. She pulled out her keys. "Open gate of the Lion, Leo!"

A golden light showered around them and a light haired man appeared in a suit in front of Lucy. Natsu felt his jaw drop. _It's not that I didn't believe her, but dang! Seeing it really is different than just trying to imagine it. _

Leo rushed to Lucy's side. "Lucy!" He pulled her into a tight hug to the point she wondered if her lung could collapse. He let her go and she coughed trying to catch her breath. He pulled her arm out experimentally. "You don't look hurt." He looked at her face. "We were all so worried. Where are we?" Loke glanced around until his eyes fell upon Natsu.

Lucy grabbed Loke's arm. "Loke, it's an alternative world, kinda like the Edolas situation, but this world doesn't typically have magic." She shook his shoulder trying to get his attention.

Loke's eyes didn't leave Natsu. "Natsu . . ?"

"Well kinda. This world's Natsu."

Loke stepped in front of Lucy protectively. "How do you know you can trust him?"

"What?! Loke! He's the one that saved me!" Loke risked a quick glance of uncertainty to Lucy before returning to glare at the pink haired man standing several feet away.

Natsu ran his hand through his hair, not knowing what was weirder. That the man appeared out of nowhere or that he resembled on of Gray's friends. _Actually, the first was definitely weirder._ The man finally turned back to Lucy and looked at her seriously "Loke, can you still open your own gate?"

"Not here, but I think I can at home." Loke looked to the sky. "Is this the same night you were taken?"

Lucy looked confused. "No. . .? That was yesterday." Loke nodded absent mindedly. "Loke, can you tell the guild that I'm okay. I don't know if they can find a way to find me."

Loke smiled at her, lifting his hand to her cheek. "I'll go see them right away. Lucy, there is something that you should know, you need to be careful with your magic here. I know you feel the big toll on your energy. Please, only summon one of us at a time, and do so sparingly. It feels like your magic will take longer to regenerate here and is used at a faster rate." Lucy nodded with understanding. They said goodbyes and Loke departed. Lucy turned to look at the dumbstruck Natsu. He was still speechless.

Lucy took a step towards him and felt her leg buckle under her. As she closed her eyes expecting to meet the ground face first, she felt two warm hands grab her and steady her. When she looked up at his face, she could feel her face heat up. Their faces were close, so close that his warm breath fanned over her. He gave her a playful smirk, "Careful."

Lucy suddenly felt very light headed. "N . . Natsu. . ?"

**I hope you all love this! I'm really enjoying writing this. The chapters are longer than I originally intended, I hope you all don't mind. =P I am going to try my best to keep this posted once a week, but with finals coming, there is a very good chance that for the next few weeks I might not be able to. Once finals are over I will definitely keep this to weekly as long as nothing crazy in life comes up. =P.**

**Thank you to everyone that is following the story and for those that have already reviewed. My reviews keep me motivated to push to the next chapter. (Not lying, I totally squeal with excitement and feel the drive to earn more!) Love you all and take care!**


	4. Chapter 4

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 4 The Cards Help**

Gray finished explaining what happened to Cana as she stared at the card hopelessly. She wordlessly whipped out her own cards, shuffling it in, and started to deal them out across the table. The card reappeared in the center. She frowned and started to flip the cards around it meticulously. Once Cana was done, she slumped in her seat, dropping her head to the table with a loud *thud*. "UGH!"

A poof appeared across the guild and Loke appeared. He ran over to Gray and Cana. "Hey guys!"

They both jumped with a small shriek. "Loke! What are you doing here? What happened to Lucy, have you heard?"

Loke smiled, "Yeah, she's okay. I just spoke with her. Cana, do you know what's going on."

Cana gave him an exasperated look. "Well. . " She drawled out. "Something kinda like the whole other world Edolas thing I gather?"

Gray turned his attention to Loke. "Yea. Kinda. It definitely isn't Edolas, but it is another version. She's safe, from what I can imagine."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Loke ran his hand through his hair, a habit he wasn't too well known for. "Well . . She's with Natsu, that world's version of him at least. He seems harmless enough and she trusts him. She can barely use her magic there, she mentioned that the world there doesn't really have any. Gray, can I ask you a question. . How long ago did that incident happen?"

Gray raised his eyebrow. "Loke you were there!"

"Gray! You know that time works differently in the spirit world! Please, this is important!"

"It happened about 3 1/2 hours ago. I just got to the guild about 20 minutes ago with Erza. Natsu is still there, probably still staring at the sky. He refused to leave."

Loke frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "As I thought, the world Lucy's in is running at a different time rate."

"What does that even mean?!" Gray put out.

Cana jumped up, "OH! Thanks Loke! That really helps." The boys followed her gaze to her cards that were still strewn across the table. She pointed to the hour glass card next to another card that had a circle with a line running through it. She looked around the other cards for any tips. She started to explain, "Okay, so sometimes when situations are this complicated, the answer is in the cards, but many cards have numerous meanings. This over here is a friendship card, so I think you're right Loke, Lucy is with a friend. It looks like they will be close. And over here shows . . . Huh . .repeat card? OH! Repeat events. Oh . . For Lucy that could be complicated. Let me put a few more out. . . We have part of the answer already to get her. . It shows we need to work together. Cats. . .Cats. CATS! EXCEEDS! We have to ask the exceed . . . Queen. She will know how to get there. And . . Cat warrior. . Pantherlily?" Loke and Gray gaped at Cana's ability to find the answers so quickly once she had a small amount of information.

"I see." Everyone jumped at Erza's voice. "We will have to inform Natsu of the developments and find the Exceeds. I already spoke with master, when Levy and Freed return they will start to research what has happened."

"Erza . . When did you get there?" Gray stammered out.

"Shortly after Loke arrived. Hurry, we must go. Loke, can you determine at what rate the time difference is?"

Loke frowned. "I'll need to look into it more. But from what I gathered so far, it's been a little over a day over there."

"I see. Gray, let's go. Cana, please inform the master of the new developments." With that Erza stalked out of the guild. Gray thanked Cana before rushing out. Loke faded with a soft poof of smoke back to the celestial world.

* * *

Natsu woke up, the second morning in a row, trying to figure out how this blonde stranger that fell out of the sky ended up in the same bed as he was, again. This time, he seemed to be spooning her. _Geez, I just meant to put her in the bed last night. We stayed up talking about her guild for so long, I don't even remember falling asleep. _He cautiously rolled off the bed and exited the bedroom. Once Natsu changed into workout clothes, he went out front and started his warm up stretches. He pulled out some weights from the garage and strewn them across the yards. _Today I'll focus on my upper body._

Lucy woke up with a slow stretch. Her waist was starting to feel better. She stood up and looked in the mirror. Still looked pretty bad, but she could see the signs that it was healing. Walking into the main room she noticed that the other bedroom doors were open and Natsu was nowhere to be seen. Lucy sighed and walked to the couch where Happy was staring out the window. She plopped next to the blue cat and started to scratch behind his ears, receiving a friendly purr in response. Her eyes wandered to the window and the color pink instantly grabbed her attention. She watched Natsu lift weights and do weird workout routines for longer than she would be willing to admit, even to herself, before deciding to make breakfast. Soon she heard the front door close and footsteps leading her way. Relieved that she left the window several minutes ago so she looked busy in the kitchen, she looked over her shoulder to watch Natsu saunter in.

"Morning, Luce, whatcha doin?" He walked over to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice.

She smiled at him, handing him a cup. "Just making breakfast!"

He grinned and looked over the ingredients spread across the counter with interest. "What do you plan on making?"

She laughed lightly, pushing him out of the kitchen, "It's a surprise. Go take a shower or something, you stink."

He turned around and playfully spread out his arms as if to give her a hug. "Oh, c'mon, you know you like my stink!"

She squealed and leapt away from him, giggling as he gave chase. "Natsu! If you want breakfast anytime soon, you need to stop bothering me and take a shower!" She stood on the opposite side of the table, using it as a barrier. He put his head down in mock defeat and dragged his feet out of the room. She smiled at his antics. _Just as playful as ever. _She giggled to herself lightly as she began to prepare a breakfast casserole, adding spicier peppers than she typically would for herself. She wasn't very hungry and would only eat and small piece, maybe eating a piece of toast or two with it.

Once Lucy put the casserole in the oven, she sat down and started to sketch in the book Natsu had given her. Soon Natsu returned, clean and smiling his normal bright grin that showed his elongated canines. He stuck his arm in front of Lucy's face; she gave him a quizzical look. "Well?"

"Well. . . ?"

"Do I smell better?"

Trying to not blush, but still feeling one dust her cheeks, she gave a small sniff. _OH MY GOODNESS! Smells woodsy, almost like campfire but not quite. And some other types of amazing spices. Don't be weird! _She shrugged lightly, turning away. "I suppose that's better."

He sat down in the chair across from her and eyed her curiously. "Whatcha drawin'?"

She glanced back at her drawing before looking at him suspiciously. "I'll show you later, don't peak!"

A mischievous smile formed on his face. "What happens if I peak?"

She glared daggers at him, holding the book to her chest. "I won't show you any others that I draw, nor will I take requests."

His eyebrow shot up. "Requests?"

"Yea, of stories that I tell. I know when I describe Edolas, you'll want to see some pictures. I don't know if words alone could be enough to understand that place."

The timer above the oven went off, alerting the couple at the table the casserole was finished. Lucy switched the timer off and tossed a few pieces of toast into the toaster before opening the oven. The strong aroma instantly filled the room and Natsu could practically taste the delicious breakfast creation, causing his hunger to lash out with a loud growl.

Lucy was pleased with the casserole and dished out a heaping plateful for her pink haired companion and a small portion for herself. She swiped the toast from the toaster and set them on her plate before serving the table. Natsu stared at his plate with wonder, and Lucy couldn't help but laugh. He polished off his plate and finished the rest in the pan, leaving no leftovers.

As Lucy started to gather the dishes scattered around from cooking, when Natsu stood up. "Let me help."

"No, it's fine. I've got it."

"You cooked, I feel bad for not at least help clean up the mess. You are my guest after all."

Lucy put her hand on her hip and gave him a defiant stare. "Natsu, you are letting me stay here, you bought me clothes, and even if I do the cooking, it's still the food you bought. The least I can do is clean. Please, as contribution until I can get a job temporarily and figure out what I'm going to do."

_Figure out what she's going to do? _"Fine." Natsu backed up with his hands in the air in fake defeat. "I'll let you cook and clean for me."

Lucy smiled. "Thank you!"

Natsu sat back and watched her. "So Luce, tell me more about your friends. I'm curious about the 'me' that you know."

"Well, let's see, I already told you that you're a fire mage. You grew up at the guild from a very young age, just like many other members. Before that you were raised by a fire dragon named Igneel."

Natsu roared with laughter, causing Lucy to jump. "F. . Fire dragon Igneel raised me?!"

Lucy turned and frowned at him. "Yes."

"Ha, oh man, I'm changing dad's contacts in my phone to Fire breathe."

Lucy sighed, watching Natsu pull out his weird black device and started to tap the screen. She soon found herself behind him watching him edit the name and change a picture of a very sophisticated man to a red dragon breathing fire. Natsu noticed her behind him and raised his eyebrow. "I forgot, I didn't really explain this to you much did I?"

Natsu and Lucy spent the rest of the day going over technology. Natsu showed her the internet, which took a long time to fully explain. Once on the internet, Natsu breezed over different topics, showing pictures and letting Lucy read descriptions. Natsu soon found that Lucy's favorite items had become his Kindle and his Ipod. He told her she could borrow them whenever she liked and he was wondering if he would soon regret that. Showing her transportation was interesting, especially the boats, airplanes and submarines.

Soon dinner time came and the duo decided a nice walk in the woods would be a great way to spend the evening.

Lucy told Natsu about the Erza and Gray that she knew, and Natsu compared them to the ones he knew. They were both surprised at how similar, yet different things could be. Natsu's Gray's parents died young so he was taken in by his aunt Ur with her two children, Ultear and Leon. Erza was kidnapped from home, parents suffered a brutal murder, and once she was retrieved by the authorities (she overthrew the child trafficking group) she lived with a close family nearby, the father's name was Gildarts and his daughter Cana. Mirajane emancipated herself and took her parents to court for her siblings because of their parent's drug habits. Lisanna went missing a few years later after a car crash and it's presumed she's dead. Natsu didn't specify the details and Lucy didn't mention that their own Lisanna returned, she didn't want to ruin any timeline in case it didn't happen yet, nor did she want to put up and false hope.

Once they returned home, Lucy took a shower and soon insisted to Natsu that he should take the master bedroom back since it's his house and she would just take one of the other rooms. She ended up choosing his old room, feeling like she was intruding even more if she took his sister's room since she didn't know the girl. Natsu cleaned up the room really quick, to make sure there wasn't anything embarrassing laying around, before showing Lucy to her new room.

Lucy grabbed the picture off of his desk and smiled. "So this is your sister? Wendy I'm guessing."

Natsu raised his eyebrow. "You know her too?" He looked at the picture over Lucy's shoulder; it was a picture about 4 years ago when Wendy and him were fishing. They were both holding up their prized fish with pride, their smiles stretched across their faces. He smiled at the nostalgic memories.

"Well, she wasn't your sister where we come from, but she was raised by a dragon as well. She does sky dragon slaying magic, which is healing and wind magic." Lucy put the picture down and looked over to Natsu.

Natsu frowned, "We aren't related? What's her dragon's name?"

"Wendy called her Grandeeney."

Natsu smiled. "Yea, that's my step-mom's name. Here, Wendy is my half-sister. My mom died when I was born, and my dad remarried when I was young. Wendy is the only child that he had with Grandeena, and I'm the only child my dad had with my mother. Grandeena has been pretty great, she has always treated me the same as Wendy so it's easy to consider her my mom."

Lucy nodded her head processing this new information. Natsu looked around his room casually and sauntered over to the closet. "Most of the clothes in here probably don't fit me anymore, you're more than welcome to use what you need to." He opened the hanging bags of clothes, hanging them up and thumbing through them with curiosity. "Otherwise, I'll just donate them next week to some shelter or church."

Lucy mumbled her thanks through a covered yawn. "I think I'll just go to bed after a quick shower." Natsu walked out with a quiet 'good night' and left Lucy to herself. Once showered, she stared at the bed with uncertainty. _Is it weird that I'm sleeping in his bed. I guess not any weirder than sleeping with him for the past couple of nights. I mean, he is a stranger. UGH! What's wrong with me, I still can't believe I asked him to sleep in the same bed as me the other night. I mean, really Lucy! You're usually kicking him out of your bed, literally! And then you just ask him to sleep with you. _She let out a sigh, plopping on the bed. _He probably thinks I'm crazy. _A smile crept onto her face. _He probably think I'm weird. I wonder if he will call me weird. . . ? _She giggled to herself before turning off the lamp next to the bed and nestling under the grey and red comforter.

Natsu walked into the master bedroom and stared at the empty bed. He slowly stripped to his boxers and threw on a pair of lightweight pajama bottoms. Typically he never wore them, but with a girl in the house, he didn't want to throw around the wrong idea, did he? He looked at the large, empty bed and let out a sigh before turning off the lights and climbing in. Instantly he was overcome with Lucy's scent. He took a deep breath, not caring how creepy it might be, and let her aroma fill his nostrils. He hadn't washed the sheets since she slept in here last and now he didn't want to. _I shouldn't be this attached to her already. I've seriously only just met her a few days ago. _He stared at the dark ceiling. _I already miss her lying next to me. _He rubbed his hand over his face and glanced at the digital clock on the dresser. "It's already been an hour, I wonder if she's asleep, if she's sleeping okay.

He slid out of bed and slowly opened the door, happy that he actually did fix all of the hinges that day so none of them squeaked anymore. He grinned to himself playfully. _Like a NINJA! _As he exited his room, his feet tangled with something soft and furry and he stumbled. He glared at the dark shadowy cat figure he could make out in the dark. _Dammit Happy! What the Hell? Are you trying to get me caught? _He let out a sigh, shaking his head before continuing to her door. _I really feel like a creep now. No, I'm just a concerned friend checking on another friend to make sure she is okay. Totally normal and okay._ Natsu stopped. _Is it okay that I'm checking on her? It's not weird, is it? _Trying to shake his better judgment out of his head, he slowly opened the bedroom door.

The moonlight shining in the room gave Natsu enough light to make out Lucy's sleeping figure in the bed. Natsu couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the sight of her. Her upper torso was lying on her back while her body twisted so her lower half was resting on it's side, one leg strewn carelessly over a pillow. Her blonde locks were thrown casually across her pillow, framing her beautiful face. He watched her chest rise and fall peacefully for a minute before taking a step back. Before closing the door, he thought he heard her mumble something. He opened it again and took one step in to check if he could hear anything.

Lucy tossed her head to the side, scrunching her face slightly. "N. . Natsu. . Noo. . Please. ."

Natsu stared at her uncertainly. _Is she dreaming about me? Nah.__Probably her Natsu. _He frowned. _Why does that feel like such a blow to my ego. She still barely knows me. _He watched her breathing quicken and her lower body turn so she completely laid on her back. "No. . This can't . . Please. ." Her voice was cracking in a heartbreaking way. Natsu watched her turn and twist a bit more before stepping back out of the room. _She is clearly having a nightmare. I don't want to freak her out anymore if she wakes up. _As he was about to close the door, he noticed Happy slipped in. Horrified, Natsu opened the door and reached for him, but it was too late, the feline had already hopped onto the bed.

_CRAP! Damn cat! She's going to notice that you weren't in here earlier. _He glared at the cat as the blue pest walked over to Lucy and pounced on her chest. She sat up in a rush, causing Happy to fly to the end of the bed in a huffy meow. Natsu watched in the crack of the doorway and Lucy turned and flipped the lamp on next to her on.

She was biting her lower lip, tears streaming down her face. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand before noticing the annoyed blue cat. "Happy? What are you doing in here?" She leaned forward and scooped him up, placing him in her lap before scratching his back caringly. "Were you trying to cheer me up?" The cat looked up at her in response, before rubbing his head lovingly against her hand. She smiled at him. "You know, where I come from, you talk. It's not always a good thing. A lot of the time you just poke fun at us, but truly, you are a great friend." She held the cat under the front legs so he was facing her. "I'm happy you came in. To be honest, I was dreaming of some pretty scary things. Missions we went on, ones we almost didn't make it."

She placed the blue cat back in her lap and looked out the window. "We've had some scary times. I. . I hope Leo was able to talk to them; I don't want everyone to worry about me. I know they will try their best to bring me back." She looked back at the cat. Happy nuzzled on her guild mark lovingly; Lucy held out her hand as if showing the cat. "This is my guild mark, I got it the first day I joined. I love Fairy Tail! You have a green one on your back and Natsu has a red one on his shoulder." She frowns at the cat. "Well not this you and this Natsu but the one from my world."

The cat stared at her blankly and she let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't want to be a bother to this Natsu, or anyone really." The cat glanced up at her questioningly. "I don't think he looks at it like that, but I want to contribute. And I can't help but wonder why was I brought here, if there was a purpose or something that I'm supposed to do." She let out a low groan, throwing herself on her back, head hitting the pillow again. "Happy, what do you think?" She glanced back at the cat. He walked over her and pawed her face before meowing. She frowned in response. "Well that doesn't help me much. I think you need to be more clear sir." Happy meowed again before leaping off of the bed and padding over to the door. Lucy slipped her legs out of the bed and followed curiously.

Natsu silently rushed away from the doorway and slid into the kitchen as he saw Lucy's light fill the living room space. He peaked around the corner and watched her follow the cat to the laptop and pick it up. She stared at the cat like her was a genius, giving him a soft thanks with a scratch behind his ear, she grabbed the device and walked back to the room, closing the door behind her and the cat.

Natsu frowned. _I guess that cat is smarter than he looks. I'll have to remember that. _He made his way back to his lonely bed and slipped once again in it's cold sheets. He stretched out, casually putting his hands behind his head, once again staring at the ceiling. _I wonder how long she will stay here. I don't mind, I'm actually enjoying her company. And to think, Gray told me he thinks I need some time to myself before school starts. Maybe all I needed was the right person. _He shook his head, getting the last thoughts out before he bought into them too much. _She isn't staying here, she doesn't belong here. Don't get attached. _He closed his eyes. _If she can't go home, I'll have to let her know she can stay here as long as she needs to. I don't know why, but I feel like I've known her forever, like our friendship is almost as deep as my other friends. _Natsu slowly faded into sleep with his blonde guest at the front of his mind.

* * *

The next morning, Natsu awoke with a stretch. He tried to convince himself that he didn't miss having to carefully climb out of bed to not wake up Lucy before stretching. He looked around his large empty room with a frown. _I guess I'll just workout today. It'll just be leg day. _He quickly got changed and headed to the front door.

"Natsu. ." He jumped at hearing a soft, feminine voice behind him. He curiously looked at Lucy, seeing her rub the sleep from her eyes while standing in her doorway. He saw Happy wrapping himself around her feet. He almost felt jealous that the cat got to sleep with her but decided not to get jealous of the cat, it might push the little blue terror to come up with more devious plans. "Where are you going?" Her groggy voice brought him back to reality.

"Oh. Uh. . Out for a jog."

She stared at him questioningly. "You work out a lot." She leaned against the doorframe, stifling a yawn.

He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yea, well it was my dad's idea. I have a lot of pent up energy and to keep me under control and out of trouble, he started me on a workout routine. He said that it helps and I have gotten used to the routine so much, I just stick to it without realizing it." He grinned at her.

Lucy stared at him thoughtfully. "Can I join you on your jog? I need to keep in shape too."

He raised his eyebrow. _This is the first time I've heard of another girl working out, besides Erza, I'm kinda curious. _"Sure."

She beamed at him and shut her door, saying something about being out in a minute. He shifted his weight from one foot to the next, getting anxious to go out. Once she bounced out of the bedroom and followed him outside, they started working on warm up stretches. He glanced over to see her mimicking his moves, or rather, perfecting them. He inwardly grumbled to himself about girls being more flexible and that's why she can clearly stretch farther. He looked over his shoulder again to take in her workout outfit. It was a snug pink shirt with a pair of black shorts and jogging shoes. When she bent over to touch her toes, he had trouble tearing his eyes away.

Deciding that only his eye muscles were getting a workout, he decided to go ahead and have them start. Natsu started off at a slow pace and maintained it for a good five minutes. He was impressed that Lucy could still keep going without breaking a sweat and wasn't even breathing hard. He slowly increased his pace, and sure enough, she stayed right by his side. They jogged silently for the next 20 minutes over different paths in the forest, Natsu slowly increasing the pace until they were at a good running pace. He stopped at a waterfall and silently motioned for Lucy to stand next to him. Before she could say anything, he put his finger up to his mouth and pointed across the clearing.

She quietly gasped taking in the majestic sight in front of her. With the morning dew still fresh on the leaves, and a soft fog teasing the ground still, there walked a magnificent stag towards the water's edge. He dipped his head and took his drink slowly. Natsu glanced over and saw Lucy's soft smile, clearly enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. The deer's head snapped towards them, just noticing them, before leaping out of the clearing and back into the thick forest.

Lucy let out a long breathe that she was holding, smiling at Natsu. "Wow. That was beautiful."

Natsu gave her a toothy grin. "I love the nature, it's so. . . refreshing." He looked away from Lucy, looking around at the breathtaking landscape around them.

Lucy watched him and then stared back at their surroundings. "Are there any monsters out here?"

Natsu didn't mean to laugh as hard as he did, but seeing her serious expression, he just couldn't help it. "This isn't a kids book, Lucy."

She huffed and crossed her arms. "Well, I'm apparently from one, 'cause in our forests we have them."

Natsu gave her an amused smile. "Which story would you be from if you could choose?" She stared at him curiously. "If you were from a kid's book, which story would you be from?"

She put her hand under her chin. "I'll think about it." She heard Natsu chuckle and she shook her head. "Seriously though . . You don't have anything crazy or dangerous in the woods?"

He shrugged and started to walk down the path again. "I mean, we have mountain lions, bears, wolves, just common predators. Nothing like dragons."

She frowned. "Well we don't really have dragons either, at least not anymore. Just one. But there are ogres, giants, vulcans, and large crazy creatures that can be dangerous." Natsu turned and raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. "What, you don't believe me? Okay well one time, there was this huge rat that spun it's tail so it could fly. And then there was this mole creature that was bothering this town that totally was looking for a mate. It was weird and had some odd crush on me." Lucy looked up at the light filtering through the trees, enjoying the crazy memory with a goofy grin on her face. "My team decided to use me as bait, those meanies. They put me in a wedding dress on a small row boat in the middle of the water flooded town and that ended up as a disaster." Natsu's chuckle brought her back to reality.

"Did they really use you as bait?"

"Yes! I mean, I don't think they would let me get hurt or anything. It wasn't the first time they tried to use my 'womanly charm' to distract." Lucy shook her head giggling. "Never works out though. UGH! I think it should!" She looked at Natsu with a determined expression. "What do you think?"

All laughter gone from his face, he gave her a cautious look. "What do I think about what?"

"Would I make a good distraction with my charm and beauty?"

He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Uh . . Yeah. . I guess so."

She frowned, not satisfied. "It started with that jerk and his staff of maids." She started to walk down the path ranting. Natsu chuckled, listening to her rant. "And then the time where the bandits were more interested in Gray! That was embarrassing since I felt totally useless." She suddenly turned and gave Natsu a small glare. "Do you know what the other Natsu did? He had me dress up to try to distract this guy in Edolas and that was a total fail! I lost a perfectly cute outfit that way, not to mention I was chased by a large group of monsters."

Natsu raised his eyebrow, "So are you saying you can't distract any of the enemies, even when clad in sexy outfits?"

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest, giving out a huff of annoyance. "Apparently not."

Natsu shook his head and laughed. _I'm happy she distracted herself with her rant, I thought it was going to get awkward there for a second. _A small smile formed on his lips. _I wonder if her teams have her dress up more for them and not for their jobs. I wonder if I could convince her to get dressed up for. . . NO! STOP IT! _ He gave her a quick glance out of the corner of his eyes to make sure she was oblivious of his thoughts. "Hey Luce, let's start jogging again. This path goes all the way back to the house, I'll race ya!"

A smile spread across her face. "You're on!"

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I look forward to writing more of this story. I just posted another chapter to my other story, Dragon Demolishers earlier this evening, so I'm happy I could update both stories.**

**Thank you for your continued support. Really, seeing comments and messaging you guys really motivates me to write faster and include more in each chapter. I have lots of plans for this story, I just wish I had more time to write it. I will post another chapter next Friday!**


	5. Chapter 5

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 5 Settling In**

Natsu glared at the sky all night. He and Happy had flown through the skies with Wendy for a few hours trying to find a way to reopen that portal that stole Lucy away. Wendy had tried to help Natsu with everything she could try to reopen it; the two dragon slayers had attempted to cut and rip at the sky to no avail. Everyone else had returned to the guild to see what they could discover. His eyes bore into the spot in the sky where the hole was, trying to burn it's way through with sheer might. The sky had turned deaf ears to Natsu's pleas and demands and silently mocked him. Happy, sitting next to him, mirrored his silence and stared at the sky with sadness. Natsu could tell that the little Exceed was exhausted from flying most of the night and could feel the little body leaning against him, fighting to stay awake in hope Lucy would return.

A wind carried the scent of some familiar guild mates. Natsu scanned the road and spotted a few people heading in his direction. He inhaled another deep breath; Natsu could smell dawn approaching and watched the horizon that was already threatening to change colors with the morning light. He hoped with the morning light and new day would bring answers to saving Lucy.

* * *

"It's a tie!" Lucy beamed in between pants.

Natsu glared at her playfully. In between breaths, he refuted, "Are you kidding me?!I totally won!"

She put her hands on her hips. "No! Even with your cheating I managed to get here at the same time as you!"

He raised his eyebrow. "Cheating?! Me? Never!" She gave him an unconvinced look. "Fine, I shouldn't have bumped you off the trail. . . Twice. Sorry." She gave him a satisfied grin. "But we need a winner. The loser has to make breakfast."

"But I was already going to make breakfast anyways."

Ignoring her, Natsu continued aloud in a thoughtful tone. "Technically we only made it to the driveway." He gave Lucy a childish grin. "FIRST ONE TO TOUCH THE FRONT DOOR WINS!"

They both bolted towards the door, but seeing that she clearly got the advantage since she was several feet closer, Natsu decided to even the score, and scooped her up by the waist and tossed her to the side so she still landed on her feet, but would be 'beside him'.

With a loud, "HEY!" she scampered back and was right behind him. She didn't think she was going to win anyways, but now she knew for sure she wasn't. He turned around with a cocky grin claiming victory. She frowned, muttering something about him being a pink haired cheater.

She stalked into the house and headed for the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower before breakfast." _Since he cheated I don't feel guilty making him wait. I'm going to take my time and enjoy this._

After her relaxing shower, Lucy went to the kitchen and whipped up some French toast. Natsu arrived right before they were ready. "So Natsu, what's the plan today?"

He looked up from his plate with a thoughtful expression. "Well I planned on going into Magnolia today. I wanted to get my books and check out the school more. It's been a while. I have my schedule so that'll help me figure out where my classes are."

"Can I come with you? I want to look for a job while I'm there."

Natsu sighed. "I don't really see why you need one. I told you, I don't mind covering for you while you're here."

She looked down at her plate with sadness. "What if . . What if I won't be able to go back home?" Natsu stared at her down cast face silently. "What if I need to stay here permanently? I need to get myself situated for worse case."

_Well if that isn't a blow. . Worse case is staying here instead of going back home to risk your life fighting monsters. I mean in theory that sounds like fun . . But c'mon. How is staying here worse case?_

Lucy continued, "I mean, I can't stay here with you forever. . I need to get on my feet and get out there."

"Lucy." She looked up into his olive green eyes. "You can stay here as long as you need to."

She bit her lower lip before returning her gaze to her food. She murmured a quiet thanks before beginning to poke at her food. "I would still like to look for a job. I'm uncomfortable having you pay for everything."

"Fine. I think I can hook you up with a job. My grandfather runs the school, and on campus they have this tavern, I think during the school year they are short staffed so I'll see what I can do."

She smiled softly at him. "Thanks Natsu."

Later that day, Natsu dropped Lucy off at the tavern he mentioned; the tavern had the same name as the school, Fairy Tail, and even had her guild mark posted around the large eating hall on flags. All of the servers wore uniforms of white or black shorts and a shirt that had the guild or in this case school symbol/logo on it. She interviewed with Mira, who, like her own Mira, had her bangs in a small band on the top of her head to keep out of her face. Her fuchsia shirt reminded Lucy of one of the dresses she used to wear when Lucy first joined the guild. Natsu made quick introductions before Lucy had her interview and got the vibe that she already had the job.

Mira leaned in excitedly, "So. . . How do you know Natsu?"

Lucy tried not to roll her eyes, knowing all too well that her own world's Mira likes to consider herself a matchmaker. "I met him a few days ago. He was helping me out of a bind and I told him I am looking for a job. I'm new to Magnolia."

Mira seemed to read too far into Lucy's words. "Oooohh, what kind of bind?"

"So does working here mean I could get a discount going to the school?"

Mira's eyes flashed with curiosity at the conversation change, but followed nonetheless. "Yes. Actually, if you work enough hours, you can get free tuition and a decent income. Now Natsu mentioned that you're from out of country?"

"Yep, so when do I start?" Lucy hoped that she could convince this white haired beauty.

"Alright, you'll start next week. We can provide you with 2 pairs of white shorts and 2 pairs of black shorts and 5 shirts, you can pick the colors. I need you to come in Tuesday. What hours are you available?"

"I uh. . Can I get back to you on that? I haven't really thought all of that through?"

"Sure!" She whipped out her electronic device and looked up at Lucy. "What's your number? I'll add you as a contact. "

"Uh. . I don't have one of those. ."

Mira stared at Lucy as if she had grown 2 heads. "Ooookaayyy, I'll just add you on Facebook"

"What's that?"

Mira again gave Lucy the strangest look. "Social media. Geez you really aren't from around here. Okay, how do I get a hold of you?"

"I . . Uh . .Hadn't really thought about that either. I suppose, could you just give me your number and I'll get a hold of you. . ?"

Mira quickly jotted down her number and email address, whatever that is, and let Lucy look through the shirts and pick out a few shorts. She gave her a quick run down on how things work and gave Lucy a menu to take home and memorize.

Lucy walked out of the tavern with a large bag to see Natsu sitting in a light blue truck. She walked over and leaned into the window. "Who's vehicle is this?"

Natsu glanced over. "It's a friend's." Laughing to himself, he looked at the steering wheel. "I forgot, you already know him. This belongs to Gray."

Lucy hopped inside of the truck and buckled up. "Where's yours?"

"I uh. . Need to borrow his for a day or so. I'm going to take you home and head out for the night. There's a few things going on and I need to go out to Mt. Hakobe. "

"I'll come." Lucy smiled at him. "What are you going out there for?"

Natsu frowned at her. "Fine, but I don't think we picked up clothes for you that would suffice." Lucy laughed, startling Natsu and he made his way out of the busy streets of Magnolia and onto the highway that would take them back home. "What's so funny?"

"After all of the times I've ever gone there, this is the first time someone reminded me to pack better clothes before going."

"What do you usually wear up there? Short skirts and tank tops?" Lucy just glanced over to him without answering. It was his turn to laugh. "How have you not been sick before?"

"I have been! One of the times, I even missed the rainbow cherry blossoms! Such a disappointment."

"Seriously? You didn't see those?"

"Well. . . I saw them just missed the party." She looked at her hands, a nostalgic smile crept up her face. "I'm pretty sure the Natsu where I'm from is the one who did it, but at night, the city's prized tree ended up floating by my apartment in the canal that evening on a boat. I tried confronting him about it, but the Master wasn't very happy about it and wanted someone to be punished so I never got a straight answer."

Natsu stared at her expression, feeling a longing to be the reason for her to wear an expression like that. _Is it possible to be jealous of yourself?_ Natsu gripped the wheel tighter and turned onto the dirt road towards the house.

Once in the house, he went to his closed boxes that were still piled in the corner of the living room from procrastination and started to dig through them. "Uh Natsu, what should I wear?"

He looked at her with consideration. "I think I have some old long sleeve shirts and a winter jacket in the back of my old closet. Take a look."

"What about pants?"

He glanced at her shorts that she was currently wearing and frowned. His stare seemed to fade away from Lucy herself and was instead just in her general direction while he thought aloud. "Wendy is way too small. Mine would be big. You can try my mom's. I'm sure Grandeena has a few things in the closet."

Lucy stood there awkwardly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Natsu gave her a quizzical look. "I don't know. It feels weird wearing your mom's things. I don't even know her!"

"So . . You've already wore my clothes within the first day of meeting me, I don't see why that's an issue." Lucy frowned; Natsu let out a sigh. "Look, if you want to go, that's the only option for pants unless you want to try some of my old pairs on."

Lucy stalked out of the room towards the master bedroom and soon returned only to walk into Natsu's room and close the door. He had a large hiking backpack filled with supplies, knowing that he was only expecting to be gone for a day, but wanted to be prepared regardless.

Soon Lucy appeared with him with an old backpack that must have been long ago forgotten in the back of his closet. He glanced at her appearance. She was wearing the same short sleeve pink shirt she was sporting earlier along with long jeans, although a bit big, not overly baggy, being held up by a belt that looked familiar to him. She rushed to the kitchen and made several sandwiches. He smiled, "I didn't even think about food, huh well there's a first."

She stuffed the sandwiches and a few drinks in her bag before looking at him. "What about Happy?"

"I'll feed him really quick; he should be fine by himself for a night."

Lucy walked over to Happy and scratched behind his ears. "Awe, poor Happy. Don't get into trouble while we are gone!" He meowed in response. "I'll make you an extra special meal when we get back. Kay?" He wrapped himself around her ankles with affection. She giggled and looked at Natsu, "Ready?"

A few hours into the drive, Natsu pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road. "What's wrong?" He silently reached behind him and started digging through his bag. Pulling out a bottle, he popped a pill and pulled a bracelet out of the bag and stuck one on each wrist. "What's all that for?"

Natsu gave her an unamused look. "I get . . motion sick. ." He started to blush. He hated for people to know, especially her. He frowned at her giggle. "What?"

She shook her head, amusement still lit in her eyes. "You're not the first Natsu I've met with motion sickness, I just assumed you didn't have it since the Edolas Natsu didn't have it."

Natsu huffed out annoyed, "Lucky." He hunched in his seat and closed his eyes. "The stuff I took earlier must have worn off. It'll take a few minutes for the meds to kick in again, I'll just wait it out." He heard Lucy give a soft hum in response. Feeling her brown eyes staring holes through him, he opened an eye and glanced at her. She had a thoughtful expression on her face. "What?"

She unbuckled her seatbelt and pushed up the armrest. "Come here." She pulled him down so he was laying across the front seats, his head resting on her lap. Feeling too dizzy to completely understand what was going on, he still felt a blush form on his cheeks. She ran her fingers through his hair, humming a quiet melody for a few minutes. Natsu could almost fall asleep, her smell was intoxicating and the magic dance that her fingers performed against his scalp was peaceful. "That better?"

Natsu almost forgot what this was supposed to be helping. _DUH! Motion sickness. _He sat up and mumbled a soft thanks while starting up the car again, avoiding looking at her face. _I feel like if I look at her, my whole face will just turn red. My face was on her lap, HER LAP! Seriously, what kind of relationship does she have with the other Natsu? I mean seriously. . I'm not complaining about my head being there, it's just, not what I was expecting when I agreed to have her come on the road trip with me. . Maybe if I get motion sickness more oft. . NOPE. Noooooo. I don't care how tempting that lap is, I will try to avoid throwing up at all costs. _

Lucy stared out the window, her face was a shade darker than Natsu's hair. _What is wrong with you?! Seriously? You pulled his head into your lap then rubbed his hair. I mean yes our Natsu . . Our? Oh goodness, I've gone crazy, I'm considering myself to have more than one personality. Okay restart thought. My Natsu. . Not helping. Homeland Natsu. . Yes, that's good. Homeland Natsu is family, everyone in the guild is family, so it's never been weird doing that with him. I mean I never did that for any of the other guys in the guild either so I don't know . . and the train was doing the driving, it wasn't like we were pulled off the side of the road just the two of us. STUPID LUCY! STUPID! Just avoid eye contact. _

_A_nother hour passed before either said anything, both deep within their own thoughts. The radio started to cut in and out and Natsu explained about radio broadcast and if they get out of range, sometimes it won't work. Soon they didn't have music to fill the awkward tension in the car. Lucy stared at the mountain. "Wow. It's cool to see it from this angle. Usually we take a carriage so we don't get to see the view like this." Lucy breathed out in wonder.

Natsu felt the corner of his mouth twitch into a smile. "Well, just be happy while we can still see out there, it looks like there might be a storm. I forgot to check the weather before we left."

Lucy stared at him questioningly. "How do you check the weather?"

Without taking his eyes off the road, he whips out his phone and tells her how to pull up the weather page. Lucy followed his directions so she could look at the week's weather. "Hmm, snow storms all night, tomorrow is supposed to be clear."

Natsu frowned. "Great. I guess we will have to get a hotel, unless you want to risk it in the storm."

"What's the worst that can happen in the storm?"

"Well, we could drive off a cliff, the truck could break down and we could freeze, we could crash into the mountain. ." His pessimistic list went on.

"Fine, I guess we will just stay at a hotel. Where is the nearest one?"

Natsu frowned in thought. "Partway up the mountain."

"Great." Lucy said unenthusiastically.

* * *

As they pulled into the small, dingy hotel, the snow was already getting thick. Once Natsu hurried out of the truck and rushed into the office to rent a room or two, Lucy decided that it would be a great time to put on some layers. She put on a long sleeve shirt she found in Natsu's closet along with another short sleeve shirt on top of that. She put on a light jacket and zipped it up and waited. After about 5 minutes, Natsu finally came back to the car. He hopped in and gave Lucy a guilty look. "Sorry, they only have one room available. I tried to get two."

Lucy shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I've slept in the same room as my team before, it's okay." He drove to the other end of the parking lot and they grabbed their belongings. Lucy was shivering and was sure her face was flushed from the cold within the short time it took for Natsu to open the door. Once inside she jumped away from the door and set her bag on the chair. She took in her surroundings.

Small kitchen, cute I guess. Looks like a bathroom over there, a large bed, a desk, and Natsu over in the corner playing with some box near the window. A few seconds passed before she realized what she just saw. _ONE BED. I mean sure, he slept in the same bed with me, twice. . ? But . .Does this make it weird that we are in a hotel room together alone? I mean I count the cat as an intelligent creature capable of supervision. Hmmm, maybe that's my problem, the cat, in either world really shouldn't be. _She watched Natsu play with the box, that turned out to be the thermostat of the room, for a while before wandering over and plopping on the bed.

Natsu looked over his shoulder at the noise, only to turn his attention away. _Not weird, not awkward. If anything, last night I was awkward and weird. Okay stop and get that out of your head. _He turned around, giving up of the useless junk near the window and sat next to Lucy on the bed. She opened her eyes and watched him with her curious brown eyes. "Hey, Luce, is that my jacket?"

"Yea. You told me to look through your closet."

"For my old winter coat, did you at least grab that?"

"DUH! But I felt weird grabbing more of your mom's things than I needed so I grabbed more of yours."

"How is wearing mine any less weird than hers?"

She sat up in defense at that comment. "Hey! First off, I know you in person. Second, the first night you gave me your own clothes to wear, so I feel like we are beyond that being weird."

He let off a playful huff. _She's right, why am I giving her such a hard time over this? It's not a big deal, it's just, I've never had another girl wear my clothes before, besides my sister who would steal my shirts or jackets, but this is different. VERY DIFFERENT. _"You're weird."

She scowled at him. _Great, if wearing the jacket is weird, wearing two of his shirts under it will be beyond weird. Now what do I do, I was just about to take it off too. Ugh! And to call me weird of all names. . _

Natsu laughed, and rolled over. "C'mon Lucy, I'm just giving you a hard time." She frowned with annoyance as a response. "Tell me more about back at home."

She smiled. "Okay, what do you want to hear?"

"Well you told me a bit about me over there, what about you? Did you grow up at the guild too?"

Lucy frowned at him. "No, I actually grew up in a . . wealthy household if you would want to call it that."

Natsu nodded his head thoughtfully. "So how did you end up at a wizard's guild?"

She smiled, and recounted how they met at Hargeon and how Natsu saved her from Bora and his group before bringing her back to Fairy Tail. He smiled and laughed at some parts, asking her to go further details into the ring magic. Lucy noted that he seemed to recognize Bora's name from his slight scowl on his face, but she let that slide. She avoided giving her reasons of why she left home and ran away, and he didn't press for those details.

He wandered over to the window and stared out at the white, raging storm. "What wrong Natsu? You look tense."

"He let out a sigh. "I just have a lot of pent up energy. The car ride drained some of my energy, but I feel like I still have a lot. The storm looks too active to consider a nice jog, so I'm just debating on what I want to do."

Lucy watched him with consideration. "Maybe do pushups and stuff, just try and burn through that energy." Natsu replied with a silent nod, maintaining his attention to the winter outside the window.

Lucy couldn't help but watch Natsu stare into the white abyss. The tranquil expression on his face with the light glow that reflected off of the snow that brightened his features had Lucy mesmerized. _I've never seen him so at peace before, except for when he's sleeping, but even then. No. . This isn't the same Natsu, it isn't fair to compare the two. He's very different, but there is the familiarity that runs deep, not just because he shares the same face and name, there's something else. _

Natsu could feel the blonde's gaze burning over him. He looked over to her, wondering how long she had been watching him. He saw her eyes shift to the window so she wasn't staring directly at him. _I wonder what she's thinking about. _

Natsu realized that the silence was treading towards becoming awkward, so he turned the tv on. Lucy's interest in the black box was one more of curiosity rather than actual interest. Natsu gave her the remote, briefly telling her how to use it. She mumbled something about having a similar item back where she was from, but nothing to this extent. Natsu became a small workout routine, starting with pushups and rotating between core workouts and upper body. He looked around the room and was disappointed with the remaining amount of pent up energy. He glanced over to the bed to see Lucy watching him with interest. She blushed slightly at being caught watching and averted her eyes back to the tv.

Natsu stood up, feeling mischievous, sauntered over to the bed. He scooped Lucy off of the bed. Before she could protest, he lightly tossed her in the air and caught her again.

"What the Hell Natsu?!" She ferociously glared at him, making the corners of his mouth twitch up into a smirk.

"Well I don't have any weights to lift and the workout routine isn't really doing it."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She huffed angrily.

"Well your not very heavy, but lifting you up is more of a workout than the back packs or pillows." Natsu gave her another light toss in the air, receiving a small yelp in return. Lucy tightly grabbed onto his shirt, trying to prevent herself from being dropped. Natsu lost his breath for a second realizing how small the distance their faces were from each other. Her angry gaze soon melted into an embarrassed blush as she let go of his shirt and looked away. Deciding to defuse the impending awkward doom that lies ahead, Natsu gave Lucy another toss, this time, resulting in her landing on the bed with a surprised squeal.

She regained her composure and shot him an irritated glare. Natsu doubled over in laughter; wiping the tears from his eyes, he managed to glance back to the angry blonde sitting on the bed. "Oh, c'mon Lucy. You know that was funny."

Lucy crossed her arms across her chest and gave an angry huff. Natsu stood, putting his hands on his hips, watching her with interest. "I can't have you being all grumpy."

Lucy looked over towards Natsu just in time to see him launch himself, tackling her on the bed. "Natsu! What are you . ." A squeal of laughter erupted from her, cutting her rant short. She squirmed, trying to find refuge from his wiggling fingers on her ribs. Tears formed at the edges of her eyes. "Please. . Natsu. . *giggles* please stop . . Tickling . . . ME!" Another burst of laughter came from the duo. She managed to grab both of arms and hold them at bay so she could catch her breath. She tried to paint a scowl on her face, but his childish grin melted her resolve. She glanced down, realizing for the first time their compromising position. He was straddling her waist, her hand on his forearms holding them in front of him, his olive green eyes attentive to her face and the expressions that came over it. She felt a blush threatening and focused her mind to keep it at bay.

Natsu watched her face roll over several different emotions as she stared at him with her large, chocolate brown eyes. Deciding that this was probably a bad idea, he rolled off of her; she released his arms instantly and sat up. He cocked his head to the side and eyed her curiously. "Better?"

She grinned, looking away. "Yea. Much better."

He felt a spirited smirk dance across his face. "Good, if you get grumpy again, I'll have to go back to tickling."

She shot his a playful scowl. "We wouldn't want that." _Would we?_

**I want to thank everyone for their continued support of this story. I know I posted 2 days earlier than expected, but as I said before, reviews help motivate me and really I want to thank everyone so far for their reviews. They really mean a lot to me and brighten up my day. If I can get to 15 reviews by next week I might just post 2 chapters instead of just one. I'm about 3/4th the way done with the next chapter already but it looks like it might be a 2 part thing, looks like it might leave off in the middle of some action. (Really wasn't intended, I just don't want my chapters to be 7,000 to 10,000 words long, they are on average about 4,500 words per chapter for this story.)**

**I'm looking forward to where this story is heading and I hope you all enjoy this as well. **

**=) Love you all! 3**


	6. Chapter 6

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 6 Mt. Hakobe**

Erza and Gray approached Natsu; Gray was relieved that the dragon slayer had given up flying around the sky demanding it to give Lucy back, at least for now. They approached Natsu slowly, trying to decide how to best update him on the information. Natsu watched the clouds that resembled pink tufts of cotton candy carefully placed in the pink and purple sky and sighed with sadness.

_It reminds me of one of the last solo missions I went on with Lucy. We walked all night since I didn't want to take the train. She insisted I sit down with her and enjoy the sunrise with a small breakfast before we finished our walk back to Magnolia. I remembered looking over and admiring the morning glow on her light features, her warm smile as she poetically described how perfect of a sunrise it was. She turned to me and asked what I thought. I didn't really say much besides a joke or so with her giving me that smile that I love so much in return. When we finally got up and walked away, she looked longingly at the sky and whispered in that soft, sad voice "Until next time". I never mentioned that I heard her and since that day, I've tried to watch the sunrise every morning to get a better understanding for her appreciation. A lot of the times I'm up anyways, so it doesn't break my habit unless I sleep over at her house. _ Natsu lets out another sigh and looked over to see Gray and Erza draw nearer.

"Natsu . ." Erza looked solemn and Gray looked exhausted. "We spoke with Master, when Levy and Freed return, he will have them start to research." Natsu gave a small, silent nod in response.

Gray cleared his throat, "So, I spoke with Cana. She thinks she has most of it figured out." Natsu listened with curiosity; his olive green eyes flickered with interest. "And then Loke came and confirmed some of. ."

"Loke came?" Natsu jumped to his feet, causing Happy to tumble over in surprise.

"Yea. He said he spoke with Lucy and. ."

"Where is she? Is she okay? What did she tell him?"

Happy jumped up onto Natsu's shoulder. "Loke saw Lucy?"

"If you shut your damn mouths and let me speak, I'll tell you!" Gray let out an exasperated sigh. "So Loke said that Lucy is okay, she's in an alternative world, similar to how it was back with that Edolas stuff, but this time it isn't Edolas."

Erza said in a very serious tone, "Loke mentioned that the time where she is located is running at a different rate."

Natsu looked at her questioningly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Erza looked away solemnly. "Remember how the time passes differently in the spirit world, it's similar to that, but we are still unsure at what rate. At least a full day, if not two have already passed for her."

Natsu looked stunned. "Where is she staying? How can we know she's safe?"

Gray stuck in hands in his pant pockets and looked at the rising sun. "From what Loke says, she is staying with someone safe and trusted."

"Who can she guarantee is trusted, she's in an unfamiliar world." Natsu growled, unconvinced by Gray's words.

Gray shot him a dirty look while Erza interjected. "You." Natsu stared at her with confusion. "She's with that world's version of you."

Natsu seemed to relax at that. "Okay, I think I can trust me to take care of Lucy. Unless, what if it's an evil counterpart of me that means to do her harm?!"

"From what Loke said, she's safe. When she calls upon any of the spirits again, they intend to get an update on what's going on and what she has discovered on her end."

Natsu looked between the two. "Well, what can we do in the meantime?"

* * *

Lucy stretched out across the bed waiting for Natsu to finish with his shower. She flipped through the channels with boredom, regretting not grabbing his kindle or another book before leaving the house. She let out a bored sigh and covered her face with the pillow. _What happened earlier? I mean c'mon! I guess whenever my Natsu tickles me I get those butterflies as well. _She let out another sigh, muffled by the pillow. _I wonder how everyone is doing. I hope Loke was able to make contact with everyone. _

She heard the bathroom door open and she slipped the pillow off of her face and watched Natsu walk out of the steamy bathroom. She, for some reason, couldn't take her eyes off of his rippling, tan muscles across his chest than continued down to his *gulp* sculpted abs. She swallowed hard before shakily asking, "Natsu. . Why are you just in a towel?"

He innocently looks at her before sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "I forgot to bring my clean clothes with me." He picked up his bag and placed it on the bed before digging through the contents for a pair of long jeans, boxers, and a long sleeve shirt. Giving Lucy a small smile, he saunters back into the steamy bathroom and closes the door.

Lucy flung herself back across the bed, feeling overwhelmed and slightly confused. _SNAP OUT OF IT LUCY! It's not like you haven't seen him in less. . I mean we have all been in hot springs together in our world. _*Sigh* _I wonder if he did that on purpose or not?_ Her eyes wandered back to the door. _I wonder if he locked the door. . ? NO I DON'T WONDER THAT! NO! BAD LUCY! BAD! _She tossed the pillow back onto her face to hide her thoughts from the world, hoping it won't leak out.

Natsu walked out and chuckled at seeing Lucy with a pillow on her face. He could hear her mumbling quietly to herself under the pillow; however, it was too muffled to understand anything that she was saying. "Lucy, you sure are weird."

She jolted into a sitting position and stared incredulously at him. _What? What did I say? I called her weird. . Is that a taboo subject? _He watched her face from surprised to a nostalgic smile. She shook her head and softly whispered to herself, "Some things just don't change."

Natsu frowned at her. He walked over to the bed and plopped down. "So, anything good on TV?"

Lucy frowned, staring at the black box of technology. "I don't think so . . ?"

A smirk appeared across Natsu's face. "Yea yea yea. . .Let's see what we have here." He clicked over the channels rapidly, frowning." He finally turned off the TV and stared at Lucy. She squirmed awkwardly under his scrutinizing gaze. "Hey, Luce, tell me a story." A childish smile danced it's way across his face.

She couldn't help but smile in response. She told him about their "S Class Mission" to Galuna Island and how Gray met up with his previous peer/rival Leon and described their relationship. She explained the fight with great detail, telling him everything that everyone did (what she was filled in on later) and how the moon drip caused a film over the island. His mind reeled when she told him that the islanders were demons all along and how they stayed friends and kept in touch long after that mission.

Lucy looked out the window, noticing that the sun had already started to set. "Are you getting hungry?" She slipped off the bed and went to her bag, pulling out the sandwiches she made earlier. She casually tossed one towards him. They both ate in silence, watching the colors change through the falling snow outside of the window.

Lucy leaned over onto Natsu's shoulder, letting out a soft, content sigh. Natsu felt his heart jump into his throat, and hesitantly laid his head against hers, wishing this moment could last forever. He could hear her breathing slow and her pressure against him gradually increase. He craned his neck to peer at her face; her eyes were peacefully closed, a soft smile graced her delicate lips. His gazed wandered back to the window, noticing that most of the evening colors have faded into the tell signs of night, the white of the snow being dulled to light grey specks dancing gracefully down to blanket the dark outside world.

Lucy stretched sleepily, stifling a pent up yawn with the back of her guild marked hand. Natsu smirked, gazing teasingly at her. "So, am I guessing it's getting close to bedtime?"

She glanced up to him, realizing their proximity; she felt her cheeks blush as she scooted away. "Y. . yea. I suppose so."

Laughing, Natsu stretched out on the bed, resting his pink locks onto his white pillow. He watched Lucy curiously, waiting to see what she did.

She hesitantly laid down on the opposite side of the bed and stared into his olive green eyes. _Is this awkward? I can't tell. His expression is so content and relaxed, and yet I'm feeling so frazzled. I hope I don't look panicked or anything. Just don't try to imagine him shirtless. . . or just in the towel. . Too late. Okay, new plan. Just don't blush while lying next to him! _Lucy let out a fake yawn to ease her tension. She avoided looking his direction as she pulled the sheets and comforter over her and wiggled, trying to find some warmth in the cold sheets.

After several minutes, she could still feel herself shivering, and clamped her jaw shut in hopes of preventing her teeth from chattering. Lucy could hear Natsu chuckle and felt his body shift. She let out a soft gasp as he pulled her in close, warding off any cold that could threaten her. She opened her eyes curiously and stared at his face. His eyes were closed and a soft smile was painted on his peaceful face. She puffed out her cheeks, trying to decide what to do. _Should I push him away? We have kinda slept together a few times. UGH! Why is this so confusing?! I know I'm wearing a bunch of layers, but this room is still chilly and he's so warm. _Soon the warm comfort that he provided lulled Lucy to sleep.

* * *

Lucy slowly opened her eyes and gazed at Natsu's peaceful state. She took in her surrounds and mentally sighed. _I wish I was home, with my Nat. . the Natsu I'm familiar with in my own bed. I could kick him and Happy out, knowing it wouldn't help and head to the guild to see everyone. _Natsu shifted in his sleep and she was pulled closer to him, a sad smile slipped across her face. _This Natsu is so sweet and . . well, not oblivious. I guess that's what happens when you're raised by humans, not a giant fire breathing dragon and a rowdy wizarding guild. _

She carefully slipped out of his sleeping embrace and went to her bag, grabbing a change of clothes and went into the bathroom. She stared at the doorknob and started a silent inner war. _Should I lock it? I don't want to offend him if he hears it click, but then again if I don't lock the door, it's open. I know my Natsu. . dammit, again Lucy?! My WORLD'S Natsu would just walk in and not see an issue, but I still feel weird hitting this Natsu. I'm his guest at his house and things are clearly different in this world. People are actually normal. In the guild they just hit each other over every little thing; then again, I haven't really met too many of our usual group in this world. GET BACK TO THE POINT. Lock it. . ? Yea. . .Not leaving the open invitation. Okay so I need to do this carefully so I don't make it noticeable._ She slowly and quietly turned the notch, jumping at the click it made.

She enjoyed her hot shower and once she was finally dressed and towel dried her hair the best she could, she stared at the looming door.

Natsu woke up, groggily patting the bed around him. Suddenly realizing that he was unconsciously searching for his blonde friend, he bolted upright and scanned the room. _Thank goodness she isn't here to see that. Wait. . .She isn't here. . ? _His eyes eagerly raked over the room once again. The sound of the shower and the closed bathroom door eased his mind. He threw himself back with a sigh and stared at the ceiling, mulling over his confusing thoughts.

His eyes wandered back to the bathroom door and he quickly averted his gaze to the window. _Don't even think about any of those thoughts! C'mon! _He walked over to the window and observed the outside weather conditions. He saw several people already up and walking through the parking lot, loading their cars. Natsu admitted that he was pleased to see the snow wasn't currently falling anymore and checked his phone for the day's forecast. Seeing he had several text messages built up and missed calls, he internally cringed. _I'll text Gray back later. _He looked up at the truck he 'borrowed'. _He'll get over it. _

Hearing the bathroom door behind him open, he turned to see Lucy step out wearing one of his old, long sleeve shirts and a pair of Grandeena's jeans. He smiled at her and stretched lazily. "Well, after I get changed, we can head out and get some breakfast at a nearby café."

Her warm smile and simple nod made his lips twitch into his own happy grin. He snatched a change of clothes and walked to the bathroom to get changed. Coming out, he was pleased to note that she had already had everything packed back into her own bag and was patiently sitting on the bed, feet dangling merrily. After the truck was loaded, and they were checked out of the hotel, they enjoyed a pleasant breakfast at the café next door.

Another hour drive through the mountains and they finally reached Hakobe City. Lucy stared around the city with interest, "I don't think we have a city on Mt. Hakobe where I'm from."

Natsu glanced at her curiously. "Hmm, don't you guys go skiing?" Noting her confused look in response, he guessed that was a negative. _Probably a good thing, from what I've heard of their guild, I don't see that going very well. _They drove through the city quietly as Lucy absorbed the new surroundings with childlike enthusiasm. Natsu pulled into a parking space and they both hopped out of the truck. "Okay Luce, over there," he pointed casually across the street, "is the library. I have a few things I need to take care of and I don't know how long I'll be."

She gave him a defiant look. "Uh, I didn't come all the way up here to just sit in a library," _no matter how tempting that may be_, "I came to help."

He frowned and looked around hopelessly. "I figured as much. Okay, listen. The situation is . . complicated to say the least. We are looking for a friend of my grandfathers. He has dark blue hair, a mustache, medium build. ."

"What's his name? Maybe I know him. . or at least what he looks like."

Natsu thought about it and laughed at himself for his foolishness. _Of course she might know him. DUH! I keep forgetting she could probably recognize a lot of people she hasn't met yet since they are identical to her own world's versions. _"His name is Macao."

"Oh! I know Macao." She beamed excitedly. "How old is Romeo here?"

Natsu's eyebrow shot up in surprise. _Huh, wasn't entirely expecting that, I guess it will help. _He scrunched up his face in thought. "I don't know his actual age, he's close to my sister's age I think."

Lucy nodded in thought. _Okay, so this Macao is closer to the after Tenrou Island 7 year gap. _She looked around attentively. "Where should we start?"

Natsu briefly explained the situation to Lucy, that his grandfather that ran the college asked one of his friends, who happened to be a teacher of the school, to check into a rumor. Natsu didn't hear too much about the rumor, but the fear that it might involve drugs that have been circulating Magnolia was the biggest push that had Macao go; he wanted to protect his son from the possibility.

Natsu explained briefly how bad the influences and addictions could be and some of the common types that people might take. She was surprised to say the least, never encountering something like that in their world, but knew that everyone had their habits and addictions, whether they were dangerous or not. While talking, their eyes searched for the blue haired professor worriedly.

Coming to the large wilderness park, they decided to separate to cover more ground. Agreeing to meet at the statue near the entrance in an hour unless the paths met, they both set out on different paths. After 15 minutes of walking on the scenic path, Lucy saw the man they were both frantically searching for slumped against a tree. As she happily bounced to his side, kneeling over to check on him, she felt a cloth cover her mouth with a terrible smell. She felt herself fall as darkness rushed her senses.

* * *

Natsu heard Lucy up the path ahead of him calling out Macao's name. He quickened his pace excitedly. Turning another corner of the path, he froze, horrified at the scene ahead of him. A tall, well-built man was tossing an unconscious Lucy over his shoulder and Macao was on the ground, looking around groggily. "HEY!" Natsu tore across the path, anger fueling his system. The man holding Lucy swore softly and starting to run away. As he passed Macao, another man jumped out from behind a tree, landing a right hook across Natsu's face. He fell to the ground and glared dangerously at the intruder, clutching his face.

The black haired man grinned menacingly at Natsu, his eyes flashed erratically. "Can't have you stop us from getting what the boss wants so badly, can we?"

Natsu narrowed his eyes angrily. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The man shrugged, "I suppose I've already said too much." He looked at Macao with disgust on his face and kicked the drowsy man, who grumbled in return.

Natsu felt his blood boiling as he jumped to his feet and swung at the man, his fist meeting the man's nose. Feeling the crunch under his fist gave him a sickening pleasure that he knew he shouldn't be proud of. The man staggered back and fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding nose with a yowl.

"Where did that guy take Lucy?"

The man glared incredulously at Natsu before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a knife. As he started to stand, Natsu kicked his supportive arm from under him and dropped his knee on the man arm, ripping the knife from his hand. The man let out a strangled yell, swearing at Natsu. Natsu clenched his eyes shut, trying to gain control. _I need this guy to be awake to find Lucy. Don't knock him out. _He glowered over the man, letting his enraged aura surround them. "Where did he take her?"

The man started to laugh hysterically. "You'll probably never see her again. Not if Bora wants her as badly as he does."

Natsu's eyes flashed with recognition. "Bora?!"

The man's eyebrow shot up. "Oh you know of him?" His crazed smile spread farther across his face. "Then you know what he does."

A low growl escaped Natsu as he shook with anger. _That bastard took Lucy? Why did he want her? Wait. . . How did he know about her?_ "Why did he want her specifically?" The man under him seemed to be dizzy, eyes clouding over to unconsciousness. "Hey!" Natsu shook the man. "Wake up! I'm talking to you!" He gave one last twisted chuckle until he slipped away from Natsu.

Natsu practically snarled in anger as he stood above the man, before turning his attention to Macao. Macao was barely standing, supporting himself with a nearby tree. Natsu let out a long breath and looked around; the man that took Lucy is long gone, and he didn't want to lose Macao now that he found him again. He walked over to Natsu and grabbed his shoulder. "Hey Macao, it's me Natsu. . . Do you remember me? Makarov's grandson. .?"

Macao seemed to have some recognition on his face as he grabbed his head. "N. . Natsu. .? When did you get so . . big. . ? Weren't you a kid or something. .?"

Concern etched through Natsu's expressions. Macao looked out of it, his eyes clouded over with an unaware haze, his clothes were disheveled. He felt freezing to the touch but didn't show signs that his body registered that. Natsu rolled up his sleeve and sighed. There was the needle marks he was hoping wouldn't be there. He grimly looked at Macao and pulled the man's arm over his shoulder, walking him to the truck. He got in and pulled out his phone.

**_27 missed calls_**

**_58 New Messages_**

**_8 New Voicemails_**

Natsu sighed and listened to the voicemails, staring at the dazed Macao sitting next to him in the front passenger seat of the truck. The first 4 were from Gray, threatening him to bring back his truck. The next was Erza, demanding Natsu call and inform her of what prompted him to punch Gray and steal his keys. One from his grandfather, asking Natsu to call him immediately. Another from Gray, who at first sounded like he calmed down until he threatened to sink Natsu's car in the ocean if he doesn't call back. And the last was from Mira, who simply said she wanted to chat about how he knows Lucy.

_Lucy. I need to find her. _He watched Macao carefully. _I have a feeling Macao knows where they are. _Natsu called the local authorities and anonymously informed them that someone was getting mugged in the park and a random person saved them and knocked out the assailant. Then he found his grandfather's contacts and called him.

"Natsu! Is that you? Where are you? I told you not to go!"

He let out a slow sigh. "Hey Gramps, it's me. Hey listen. . I . . I went to Mt. Hakobe." He pulled the phone away from his ear for the expected shouts of annoyance that came out of the device before holding it to his ear. "Yea, listen. . I found Macao."

A long silence on the other line. ". . And?"

"He seems pretty out of it. What's that drug called again?"

"Z."

"How do I take care of him?" He stared cautiously at the blue haired man who was staring at his hands as they closed and opened in front of him.

"Just bring him back into town. The hospital will handle him."

Natsu put his hand to his temple. "I . . can't."

". . . . What did you do?"

"A friend of mine was separated and. . Look! I think Macao knows where she could be, I just need to get him to be more aware. In the state he's in now. ."

"SHE?! Wait, you dragged some poor, innocent girl into this?"

"She insisted on coming with me! Wait, I don't need to explain myself to you, just. ." He let out a strained breath, closing his eyes. "Please. C'mon Gramps."

"My boy, I don't know what to say. I don't have the knowledge that you're seeking. I'm sorry."

Natsu let out a groan and thanked his grandfather before hanging up. He drove to the nearest hotel and rented a room, this time with a double bed. He took Macao inside and sat him on the chair.

"Okay Macao, I need you to snap out of it!"

**I hope you all like it! I know it took an interesting twist. I'm pretty much done with the next chapter and I hope to post it sometime this upcoming weekend (I'm still tweaking it). **

**Let me know what you all think of the direction of the story.**

**Thank you everyone for your support so far! Love you all!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I want to apologize that this chapter jumps a bit from person to person a bit more than intended, especially in the beginning. I wanted to give an all-around perspective of what's happening. Let me know what you think afterwards. =)**

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 7 Bora and the Vulcans**

Natsu gave the cheerful blue sky above him a final glare before following Gray and Erza back towards the guild, carrying the tiny blue Exceed in his arms. Happy let out a yawn, staring at Natsu sleepily. "So all we have to do is find the Exceeds and talk to their Queen?"

Gray huffed. "Well, we don't know where they are so that isn't as easy as it sounds." Erza agreed silently with a short nod.

Natsu let out a small, huffy laugh. "We know where they are." Erza and Gray stared at Natsu in shock. "What?"

"How do you both know where the Exceeds are?"

Happy sleepily informed his friends. "Oh, well I've kept up with this nice couple I met in Edolas, the ones that smell really nice. After the 7 year time gap, we visited them a few times." He gave a sleepy smile.

Erza stared at Natsu and Happy while in deep thought. "I think we should leave tomorrow."

"WHAT?! Why?" Natsu angrily questioned.

Erza ground out slowly, "Well, you two look terrible and I think we all need to get a little rest before we set out."

Natsu flung his arms to his sides, hand afire. "We are ready now, right Happy?!"

Happy flew into the air, suddenly full of energy. "AYE SIR!"

Gray sighed, shoving his hands in his pant pockets. "Erza, we might as well just pack and go, I think we are all eager to talk to them."

Natsu smiled at Gray's response before turning back to Erza. "C'mon Erza, you know how time is running at a different rate there. Who knows how much time has already passed for Lucy. We don't want years to pass on her end before we find her."

Erza frowned thoughtfully. "I suppose you're right. Okay, listen up! The plan is to head back to the guild, inform master of our newest plans, pack up and head out." They all hurried to the guild with purpose. Natsu gave the sky one final glance before catching up with the others. Lucy, I promise you we will get you back!

* * *

Natsu dragged the fully clothed Macao out of the shower and tossed him on the cot in the hotel room. Macao sputtered, coughing up water. "What the hell Natsu!"

The young pink haired man shrugged back. "What? You're more awake now."

Macao shook his head, putting his hand up to steady it when he suddenly felt a dizzy rush returning. "Yea, yea, yea. Okay. I still feel like crap." He glared at Natsu grumpily. "What are you doing here anyways?"

Natsu explained that he overheard his grandfather speaking with Romeo about his father still being at Mt. Hakobe and he remembered overhearing previous conversations between Makarov and his own father about the issues arising there. Once Romeo left, Natsu confronted his grandfather and Makarov only gave him simple details trying to deter him from storming away. He had a run in with Gray and 'swapped cars' before heading up.

Once he started to mention he brought Lucy, Macao's face paled. "You brought a girl with you?"

Natsu stared at him with confusion. "Yea. . ?"

Macao wiped his eyes, trying to focus on one of the many pink haired people he was seeing. "Look, Natsu. . You really didn't get all of the information. This group that's working up here distributing the drugs, it was rumored that they were working with Bora."

Natsu's frown deepened. "The same Bora that. . ?"

Macao nodded solemnly. "The same one that runs the human trafficking system to Boscow."

Natsu swore softly. "Okay, Macao, where is their base? I need to save Lucy."

* * *

Lucy slowly woke up, her wrists handcuffed to a large chain that ran across the floor to a small metal hoop sticking out of the ground. She smacked her lips awkwardly, trying to get the feeling of eating a bunch of cotton balls out. Hearing a husky laugh come out, she twisted and saw a man sitting in the shadows. She stared, trying to focus her eyes as they adjusted to her dark surroundings.

"What do you want with me?"

"Forget me already?" She heard the man sneer out. I recognize that voice, it sounds so familiar, but from where?

The man leaned forward and Lucy froze. Bora. "You thought you escaped me didn't you? And then you come waltzing nearby my base as if it's nothing. I have to say, fate must be on my side." His devilish smile grew wicked. Lucy gulped down the bottled up fear that had collected in her throat. It's clear he must have met the 'me' from this world. What should I do?

She gave him a questioning stare. "What are you talking about, sir. .?"

She jumped at his voice, "DON'T PRETEND YOU DON'T KNOW!" He stood, looming over her, anger seething around him. "Back in Hargeon, a few days ago." Lucy stared wide-eyed at him. No. . .It can't be. . He picked her up by her handcuffs, voice laced with venom. "After what you did, I've decided to just keep you for myself." He threw her down across the room and stormed out; he turned to give her a final glare, letting out a sadistic chuckled and slammed the large metal door. She heard the latch on the door lock before letting her gaze wander around the room.

* * *

Natsu crouched in the woods near the warehouse Macao told him about. Although he was still clearly under the influence of the drug, he was able to explain to Natsu some of the dangers of what lay ahead. He shifted the hat on his head, and glanced around nervously. It was still early afternoon and he didn't want to waste too much of the day before saving Lucy. He saw a group of young men walking towards the building nearby, a smirk escaped his lips. Once they passed by, he silently slipped in at the back of the group and walked towards the building with them.

Once inside, his eyes hungrily took in his surroundings, frantically searching for clues of his blonde friend. The main room of the warehouse had several boxes wrapped and ready to ship. He looked around and saw that there were several doors lining the walls, the rooms behind them were an added concern and mystery. His eyes followed the stairwells up to the ceiling, informing him that there were clearly more levels to the building.

His wandering gaze led him to cameras attached to the ceiling; he narrowed his eyes and glanced around spotting several more. That's where I'll start. He silently followed the cable of the camera through the building, trying to stay inconspicuous. The wire ended at the corner and he swore softly.

"HEY! YOU!" A loud voice shouted behind him. Damn. He casually turned around, and saw 2 men walking towards him quickly. "What do you think you are doing?"

Pretending to be relieved, Natsu smiled. "Oh hey, so I got a bit turned around. Where was the security office again?" They gaped at him, confusion evident on their faces. "I saw some suspicious people and wanted to report it." They looked at each other and indicated for Natsu to follow them.

They knocked on a door near the back of the warehouse. A tall, round man who showed the clear signs of not washing his brown, bristly hair opened the door and glared at the people disturbing his peace. "This boy wanted to speak with security."

The man's beady eyes landed on Natsu, eyeing him suspiciously. Natsu smiled gratefully at the two men who left and turned to the man. "Hi, so I saw a suspicious fellow out there and wanted to report him."

The large man's eyes narrowed, but he opened the door allowing Natsu to enter his filthy little sanctuary. He sat down in front of a large screen with many tv boxes of live security cam feed. Natsu scanned the screen briefly until he was interrupted by the man clearing his throat. "Oh, sorry. So there was this blue haired fellow with a big mustache, he wasn't very young and looked out of it."

The man glared at him. "Don't waste my time punk, that was the man we were using as a decoy in the park." The man swiveled in his chair and turned back to the screen, lazily looking at the boxes.

Natsu stood up and walked to the door, opening and closing it before silently walking back behind the man. He carefully raked over each box looking for Lucy. Loading Docks. A room filled with sealed boxes. Outside entrances. A room with people filling the boxes. Natsu held his breath upon seeing a room filled with women with their hands tied. He scanned through the screens and saw several of those rooms.

He glared down at the man in front of him, knowing he needed to hold off until he knows exactly what room Lucy is in first. He continued to look through each box and he finally found the blonde handcuffed to a large chain in a room by herself. B48. Must mean basement. Great, I don't recall seeing steps that go down, must mean that the steps are behind one of the doors. Is there a map anywhere?

Natsu looked around the room and found a map. He quietly stared at it, making sense of the small scribbles and notes. After figuring out the best entrance to the basement, and where her room would be, Natsu shifted to look back to the screen to figure out where the rest of the girls might be. He accidentally bumped into a cup that toppled over the edge and shattered on the floor.

The man jumped and stared disbelievingly at Natsu. "What the hell boy?! What are you even doing in here still?"

Natsu swore quietly to himself and stepped over to the man.

* * *

Lucy pulled against her chains, awkwardly patting her side. Well, they didn't take away my keys, nor my whip. That's a relief. I do see a camera, I should wait until they open the door again before calling out any celestial spirits. My magic feels like I could hold one out here for maybe 5 minutes max. She frowned to herself. After all of that training, you'd think I could do more than that. . ? She sighed and continued to walk around the room at the length of the chain. She couldn't reach the bed, the chair, the table, the door; nothing but the sink and toilet. She angrily pulled again, letting out an infuriated grunt.

"Ho ho! Is my little princess getting feisty?" She turned her head sharply to meet Bora's dark gaze; his eyes raked over her making her feel like she needed a bath. "I like 'em feisty."

She curled her lips in disgust and stepped away from him. He walked over to her, taking long purposeful strides, and grabbed he left arm. Leaning in, he smiled. "So, my fair, blonde friend, are you ready?" He pulled out a needle with a black substance in the vile. "Once I give you this, we are leaving." He openly ogled her. "Too bad someone bought you. I was going to have so much fun taming you." She whirled around and kicked him in the face, sending him flying across the room. She rushed towards him to check his coat for keys until she was halted by the chains. UGH! He's only a few feet away.

She self-consciously glanced at the door and camera before extending her foot out to poke at the man. He didn't budge. She moved her foot around, listening for a jingle.

"What the hell?" Lucy felt like she about died from a heart attack, her entire body frozen. She gaped shockingly at the doorway where Natsu stood, curiously staring at her.

"Natsu?"

"So. . I came here to . . save you."

Lucy stared at the unconscious man on the ground. "Can you search him for some keys please, I can't reach."

Soon Natsu pulled a set of keys out of the man's coat and jingled them happily in front of her. After the 15th key, Lucy was unlocked and rubbing her raw wrists. "Thanks Natsu."

Natsu shook his head, wondering what happened. After knocking out the guard and tying him up, he stole the keys and folded the map, carefully placing it in his pocket. He glanced once again at Lucy's screen to see her pulling against the chains irritably. He tried to walk casually, not drawing attention to himself. He adjusted the hat on is head several times self-consciously hoping his pink hair wouldn't get him caught. Once he found the room, he noticed the door was ajar and worried that they might have moved her within the few minutes he left the security room. He wasn't expecting to see a man laying on the floor with Lucy poking at him with her leg awkwardly. She was clearly having trouble reaching the man that Natsu could only suspect she knocked out.

Once Lucy was released, Natsu showed Lucy where on the map all of the other rooms he saw that had people tied up. She quickly handcuffed the man in her old chains before shutting and locking the door. They separated in the basement, not going far from each other, and started to unlock the other doors. Most of the people were tied with ropes, but seemed to be drugged. Natsu pulled out his phone and saw that he had no signal, but at least could see the time. 4:37pm. Okay, I told Macao to call the police around 4:45pm. I hope he's aware enough to do that. I set the alarm in the room for him for 4:45pm so the cops could be here by 5:00pm.

Lucy ran over to Natsu after freeing a room full of girls, "Okay, so what's the escape plan?"

He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "I didn't get that far."

She frowned at him and pulled him into one of the now vacant rooms. "Open Gate of the Virgin, VIRGO!"

A pink haired maid appeared from the ground. "Hello, Princess, is it punishment time?"

Lucy ignored the look Natsu gave her and told Virgo they need an exit. Virgo tunneled down and soon reappeared saying that she created a tunnel far enough outside of the property that the girls could escape. Once Lucy thanked her, she remained next to the blonde, staring blankly at her.

"What is it Virgo?"

"Princess. . Big Brother has requested that if any of us come to your aid that we ask you how long you've been here for."

Lucy gave the celestial spirit a skeptical look. "Uh. . . a few days. Why?" Virgo continued her stare, blue eyes not giving a hint of emotion. Lucy frowned. "Virgo. ."

"According to Big Brother, time runs differently here."

Lucy's face contorted in confusion. "What. .?"

Natsu grabbed Lucy's arm, snapping her out of the conversation. "Look, we can't focus on that right now, we need to focus on getting out of here and rescuing these girls."

Lucy looked around them. He's right."Okay. Virgo, I'll summon him later to talk, give him a heads up please." Virgo left with a small bow and Lucy turned back to Natsu.

"Okay ladies, listen up, we are trying to get you all out of here. We need you to go through this tunnel that leads into the forest, stay hidden." Soon, many of the women started to walk in a trance to the tunnel and followed his directions. Natsu and Lucy opened several more doors and released more women, directing them to the tunnels. All of them were in a drugged trance and followed the directions very obediently. Natsu looked over and saw that Lucy was moving rather sluggish and remembered that using her magic can really take it out of her. "Hey Lucy, why don't you go out through the tunnel and check on the girls at the other end."

She gave him a hesitant look before climbing into the tunnels. Soon Natsu heard a door open and voices coming in the direction of one of the stair wells. He slipped inside one of the rooms, leaving the door ajar, and continued to untie the few women left in the room. When the voices were closer, he craned his neck so he could hear the conversation.

"Which room was the blonde in?"

"I dunno, but he sure is taking his time and Kain wasn't opening up the security door. It's probably something juicy going on." The two men chuckled before reaching the door that Lucy was previously locked behind. Natsu heard the familiar jingle of keys and knew he needed to act fast. He slipped out of the room and snuck behind the two men silently. They opened the door and were shocked to see Bora on the floor, unconscious and chained up. Natsu knocked one of the men out with a kick to the head, the other man was aware of him so dodged his attack.

The man lunged, landing a good punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of the pink haired teen. As the man went to bring a knee to Natsu's face, he twisted and hooked his foot around the man's leg, knocking him down. Natsu could hear several voices behind him, getting closer. He looked around frantically. "Dammit!" He rushed to the room with the women and shouted orders at them to escape, which they did slowly. Natsu ushered them impatiently into the tunnel, hearing the ocean of people in the hallway making order of the situation. The door behind him opened and he turned just in time to block a hit. A man behind his attacker shouted. "We don't have time for this! I heard the police are on their way. Grab the boss and as much Z as you can and get out of here!"

The attacker turned and snarled at his friend. "What about the women, they are all gone!"

"We need to leave now!" The man turned back to glare at Natsu before rushing out of the room. Natsu sprinted into the tunnel, soon colliding with the lethargic women. He pushed their backs in hopes to speed the pace to the exit. He helped them out of the tunnel and looked around frantically. He spotted Lucy shivering, waving down the police that had just arrived on site. He ran over and placed his jacket on her shoulders, causing her to jump slightly. They were soon swarmed by cops asking them questions and showing them where the tunnel was. (They decided to not inform them how the tunnel was made and just say it was there when they arrived.)

The police insisted on taking them to the station for further questioning until there were gun shots heard and an officer over the radio requesting back up. While the ambulances started to arrive and began to take some of the women into their care, Lucy and Natsu slipped away. They ran through the forest until they arrived on a small ice covered dirt road and soon found Gray's blue truck. Natsu quickly drove down the winding path until they finally arrived back into town. Natsu rushed to the hotel room and found Macao asleep on the bed. He packed up the rest of the supplies, had Lucy help him drag the blue haired professor back to the truck, took a motion sickness pill, and started down the mountain all before the snow started to fall again.

They finally made it back into the city long after night had fallen across the city and soon after arrived at the hospital. Natsu and Lucy dragged Macao through the doors and checked him in. He pulled out his phone and sighed at the mountain of texts and voicemails he had accumulated; ignoring them, he dialed his grandfather. "Hey Gramps, it's me."

"What happened?! I've been watching the news and. ."

"I brought Macao back."

"What?"

"We are at the Magnolia hospital; I just wanted to tell you we arrived a few minutes ago."

There was a long pause before Natsu heard a response. "Stay right there!" With a click from his phone, he was informed the call ended.

He looked up at Lucy and sighed before sorting out his text messages.

**I hope you are all enjoying the story. =) Now that school is almost over, I would like to say that I will have more time to write the story; unfortunately that won't be the case for a while. I'm actually going on vacation for several weeks and won't know when I'll be able to post. I do promise one more chapter in this story and one more chapter in my other story before I leave, so expect one more next week. I will try my best to write while on vacation but I can't guarantee anything since I won't have computer access for the entire time. **

**Let me know what you think about the turn of events. =) I'm so excited to write this story for you all! **


	8. Chapter 8

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 8 ****Meeting Old Faces**

Upon reaching Magnolia the team dispersed, agreeing to meet at the guild in 2 hours. Gray decided to head to the guild and talk to the master about their plans while Erza decided to head back to Fairy Hills and pack. Natsu just waved them off saying he would be there.

Natsu weaved his way through the cobblestone streets until he arrived in front of a very familiar apartment. He jumped up to the windowsill of Lucy's apartment, carrying the sleeping blue Exceed gently in his arms. He wiggled the window just like he always does to get the lock to pop so he can open it and hop inside. He lay on the bed and inhaled her sweet scent, relishing in the comfort it provided. He let his gaze wander around the room before closing his eyes. Natsu never remembered falling asleep.

* * *

Natsu and Lucy sat in silence after he finished with his phone. Neither of them wanted to discuss what was haunting their own thoughts.

They heard the news on the television blaring about an illegal drug warehouse that was affiliated with human trafficking had been disassembled earlier that evening thanks to an anonymous tip someone called in. Apparently all of the women who had been captured were free and were getting treated for being heavily drugged. The man behind the act, supposedly Bora, had yet to be captured, although they did capture many other people affiliated and were currently in jail. Government officials were supposedly on the scene trying to determine how bad the drug crisis was and couldn't comments at that time.

The news suddenly flashed that they were looking for 2 individuals who apparently made contact with the cops and fled the scene. Natsu and Lucy both turned in interest to see a crudely drawn picture that in some very vague ways could look like Lucy and a man that looked nothing like Natsu with purple/pink hair with a beard. They both silently laughed at their own luck.

Lucy turned to look at Natsu to finally tell him what has been eating at her all evening only to see the grave expression he was wearing. She followed his gaze to a very familiar, short man storming towards them. Lucy could only muster one word. "Master?. ."

Natsu tore his gaze away from the small man to give Lucy a disbelieving glance. "Really?"

"NATSU!" The pink haired youth gulped down what felt like a softball lodged in his throat. "You have quite a bit of explaining to do young man." The short, old man's gaze landed on Lucy. "Who is this?"

Lucy stood up, only to have to bend over to stick her hand out. "I'm Lucy, it's very nice to meet you, sir."

He slowly took her hand and gave it a quick shake before abruptly letting go and looking between the two youths in front of him. "Lucy you say. . The one that just interviewed with Mira yesterday for the job at the tavern?"

Lucy looked surprised. "Yes, how did you know?"

Natsu looked away, turning his attention back to the television. "Gramps here is in charge of the college, the tavern, the orphanage, and a few other places here in Magnolia."

Lucy raised her eyebrow. "Gramps?"

Makarov nodded his head. "Yes, I'm this one's grandfather, but you may call me Makarov."

Lucy nodded and sat back down. Makarov turned his attention once again to the pink haired teen with a low growl. "I am going to have a long talk with you tomorrow. I want you to come to town no later than noon." Natsu let out a huff in response that sounded somewhat like he agreed. Makarov turned and rushed away in the direction of Macao's room.

Lucy let out a sigh. "So he's your grandfather. Crazy. In our world he's only Laxus'."

Natsu nodded silently. "Technically speaking, he only has one child and one grandchild, but Gramps adopted several kids and they had kids as well. I do wonder how many of my cousins you know." Natsu turned curiously to Lucy. "I'll tell you all about my family tree tomorrow, I think we should head back to the house soon." He pulled out his phone and let out a sigh. "I'm just waiting for. ."

Before Natsu could finish his sentence, the hospital doors slammed open and Gray stormed in with his shirt flying off of him. "NATSU! YOU BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL?!"

Natsu gave Lucy an apologetic look before standing to meet Gray's wrath. He ducked a punch that was thrown carelessly at him and retaliated by trying to land a punch instead. Gray landed a kick to Natsu's side, causing him to let out a painful groan. A nurse appeared and started to yell at the two. "This is a place for healing! Please refrain from acting like barbarians and take this somewhere else." She gave Lucy a disproving glance before stalking off.

Lucy followed the two outside trailing behind, listening to their conversation. "So what did you need my truck for anyways?"

"Awe, just had to make a trip to Mt. Hakobe and trusted your truck to make it there without getting stuck."

"You went there without me? Geez! You really are a prick!"

"HEY! I was taking care of some business. . I'll. . explain later." Now that they were outside, they started walking towards the parking lot. "Why'd you have to tell Erza about me taking the truck though?" Natsu's voice whined in a childish manner; Lucy couldn't help but giggle.

Gray looked over his shoulder and gave her a curious stare. He leaned towards Natsu and whispered, "Dude, I think some hot blonde chick is following us."

Natsu only grinned, throwing his hands behind his head and continued walking. "That's Lucy."

Gray gave him a skeptical look before turning around. "Hey, I'm Gray." He held out his hand welcomingly.

Lucy took his hand, which was slightly chilled to the touch, and gave it a nice squeeze. "Lucy."

"What are you doing with this lame brain over here?"

Natsu dropped his hands and glared at Gray. "HEY!"

Lucy giggled lightly, "I was helping him with the stuff at Mt. Hakobe."

Gray turned to glare at Natsu. "Dude, so you take a girl up there and not me? Wait in my truck?" He looked between the two suspiciously. Natsu shrugged and kept walking and Lucy smiled awkwardly at Gray. Gray crossed his arms and glared at Natsu, letting out a low sigh. "So Natsu, what are you doing tomorrow? We have a little less than a week before class starts." Natsu shrugged and looked over to Lucy, Gray followed his gaze. "Where did you two meet?"

Lucy gave a quick glance to Natsu before saying, "Oh, well Natsu was helping me out of a bind. I guess I could say he still is."

Gray raised his eyebrow, turning to Natsu. "What does that mean?"

Natsu shrugged again, letting a smirk dance it's way across his face. "Doesn't matter."

Gray frowned. "Yea, whatever." He turned back to Lucy. "So are you going to the college also?"

"Oh, uhh. . No. I'm actually going to be working at the tavern near there though."

Gray put on a charming smile. "Really? I'll have to come by and visit sometime. What days will you be working?"

Lucy blushed, "I'm not entirely sure yet."

Gray whipped out his phone from his pants, and looked expectedly at her. "What's your number? Maybe I'll text you."

Natsu put his arms behind his head again, watching the exchange with interest. "She doesn't have a phone." Gray stared dumbfounded between the two. "She just moved here from out of town."

Lucy nodded slowly. "I guess I'll just see you around then." Gray just nodded before giving Natsu a curious look. "Oh!" The guys looked at Lucy as she dug into her pockets. "Here Gray, your keys to the truck."

He took the keys out of his pocket and tossed them carelessly to Natsu before getting his own keys from Lucy. Natsu held on to his keys and slapped Gray on the back. "Okay Frosty, I guess we'll see you later. I need to take Lucy home."

Gray frowned at the nick name but ignored it, turning to Lucy. "Where are you staying?"

Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her off before she could reply. She gave a light wave and shouted a hasty goodbye before Gray was out of sight. They slowly climbed into his bright, red car and headed back to his secluded house.

Once home, Lucy stepped out into the yard and pulled out her keys. She jumped Natsu's voice behind her. "What are you doin'?"

"Oh, well I was going to call Loke out to talk to him."

Natsu stared at her, concern clouding his features. "Lucy, I don't know. You look exhausted and didn't you summon one earlier?"

She frowned in response. "Well, yea." She let out a soft sigh and plopped down in the grass. "I'm just used to being able to call out 2 at a time for quite a while. It's frustrating the suddenly be restricted like this. Ya know?" She turned and gazed up at his thoughtful face, her brown eyes filled with frustration and exhaustion. "I've trained so hard and it just feels like all of that effort is gone!"

Natsu gingerly sat down beside her and casually stared at the sky, watching the stars twinkle in response. "I get it, but I don't think they would mind if you waited until morning. He looked over to her. "I mean if you're tired now, they will be more concerned and from what you say, it takes a lot out of you right now. Waiting might give you more time with them to talk."

Lucy smiled and looked down at the keys she held. "Yea, I suppose you're right." She placed them next to her in the grass and returned his gaze. "Thanks Natsu."

Natsu shrugged lightly and watched her lean back on her hands and stare at the stars. He followed her stare and smiled. "Do you know all of the constellations?"

She smirked. "Of course!" She turned and looked into his olive green eyes. "I'll show them to you sometime."

Natsu felt a goofy grin stretch across his face. "Looking forward to it."

They remained outside for several more hours enjoying the peace of the night. Natsu stretched and stood up. "Well, Luce, I think it's time we go inside. It has to be like. . 3am by now." He looked over and saw that she had fallen asleep. He shook her gently and received no response. He smiled and scooped her up, carefully carrying her inside and set her softly on her bed and set her keys next to her.

Turning around, he spotted Happy sitting in the doorway; Natsu stepped over the cat, ignoring the small black eyes that he felt staring at him, and walked to his room. He shut the door and took a quick shower before stretching out across his bed. His thoughts trailed back to the young blonde sleeping in the other room. He felt himself frown remembering how interested Gray seemed and decided that they need to figure out what to say next time she gets asked where she lives.

* * *

Lucy rolled over, and gave a long stretch. She sat up and looked around, surprised to find that she was inside the house on 'her' bed. She looked around the room lazily and slipped out, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She noticed that Natsu's door was still closed and shrugged. She hopped into the shower and scrubbed off the grim she felt from the activities the day before. _How did I manage to fall asleep last night feeling so gross? I really must have been tired. _

She quickly got dressed and looked around the main room. _Hmm. It's weird that Natsu isn't up yet, he's typically an early riser. _She looked out the window and bit her lip. _I really need to call Loke, and I think it would be better to talk alone with him. _She gave one last quick glance around the room before bolting outside.

Lucy quickly walked to the edge of the woods before pulling out her keys. "Open, Gate of the Lion. LEO!"

Leo appeared in front of her, concern in his eyes. "LUCY!" He stepped over and gave her a big hug before looking her over. "Are you okay? You look okay."

"Loke I'm fine really!" She put her hands up and gave him a playful grin.

He looked around the area, taking in the house that he saw in the distance. "How is it staying here?" He gave her a serious look. "Is your living situation still okay?"

"What? YEA! Yea. Don't worry about that." She shifted uncomfortably. "Virgo mentioned that time is running differently here."

Loke frowned and looked up at the bright morning. "How many days has it been here?"

She put her finger under her chin in thought. "Under a week. 5 nights total I think."

Loke nodded thoughtfully. "When I first came and saw you, it had been, what, 24 hours since you arrived?"

"Yea. ." She answered back slowly, filled with anticipated worry.

"Well at that time it had only been a few hours there."

Lucy paled, "So you're telling me that it's been almost a week here and it's only been a day there?"

Loke gave her an apologetic look. "Actually, I'm afraid it's worse than that. I don't think it's even been a full day there."

"How am I going to get home if time here is running faster? LOKE! What if they can't find a way to save me until. . . I'm old or. . dead." She sunk to the ground, her face frozen in despair. "What if I'm never able to go home and use my magic like I was, or see my friends at the guild." Tears started to stream down her face like rivers; she looked up to his sad face and bit her bottom lip.

Loke knelt down beside her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry. We are searching in the celestial world for the best way to bring you home. Unfortunately, since magic isn't originated in this world, we can't bring you to our world and send you back that way, we've actually tried several times." He let out a sigh, closing his eyes. "We just have to be patient that our Fairy Tail family will be able to figure this out, and fast. I'm going to be helping them, staying there with my own magic."

She sat back and wiped her eyes. "If magic isn't natural here, how can I summon you?"

Loke frowned, "We aren't quite sure of that yet. We are working hard to figure it out." Lucy nodded and stood up, wiping her face once again to clear the tears from her face. "Lucy, you're looking tired, how about I head out for now and you can call on Virgo or Plue tomorrow?"

She gave him one final hug before he poofed away. She slowly made her way back to the house and tentatively walked in. She noticed that Natsu's door was still closed so she hurried to the restroom and washed her face before heading to the kitchen and making a large breakfast.

After finally finishing breakfast, Lucy walked over and glared at the closed door. _How can he still be sleeping. I know it's not super late in the morning, but he's usually up before me and the entire house smells like food. _She walked over to the door. _I'm going to just open the door and barge in. _She placed her hand on the knob. _I'm going to turn this knob, shove open the door and yell 'Good Morning'. _She stood there for another minute, staring at her hand on the knob. _Just have to turn the knob. _Finally she stepped away, letting go of the brass knob and let out a sigh. _I can't just barge in. This is a different Natsu, not my Natsu. DAMMIT! Correction, not homeland Natsu. Meh! Who am I kidding?! _She stared at the door, determination growing. _Well I may not be one for barging in, but I can knock like a respectable human being. _

She gave a soft knock. "Natsu, breakfast is ready." _No answer. _"Natsu!" She knocked louder. "You up?" _Still no answer. Ugh! Okay, I'm not one for barging in, but his lack of response is troubling. I'm entering this room because I'm concerned! _She gave a quick glance around the room and spotted the blue cat watching with interest. "Don't stare Happy, it's rude." _I swear that expression is familiar, he's up to something. _

She grabbed the knob. "NATSU! I'm coming in!" Opening the door, she stepped in and took a quick look around. _Where the hell is he? _Lucy frowned, placing her hands on her hips and surveyed the room. _I didn't see him leave, and I was within distance of the house the entire time I was with Loke. I know the dining room has a back door, but I thought I saw the lock's latch still connected earlier. Where is he? _

Lucy jumped at hearing the front door opening. She tentatively walked through the doorway to see Natsu walking in. "Hey Luce! Whatcha doin' in my room?"

She blushed. "Where were you? I made breakfast and you didn't answer. . ?"

Natsu sniffed the air and gave her a wolfish grin. "Smells good! You made french toast?"

She smiled. "With berries." He watched her walk out of the room and he followed her to the kitchen, sitting in his usual seat. She placed a large plate of French toast with syrup on the side; littered across the plate, the great variety of blueberries, raspberries, black berries, and strawberries decorated his meal. He slowly cut into his meal, avoiding looking back to the blonde. He was still sorting out his own feelings with what he encountered this morning.

Natsu had woken up earlier than usual and decided to go ahead on his usual jog. Today he really pushed himself, thinking about the intense day they experienced the day before and soon he found himself back at the house. He heard talking in the distance and spotted Lucy with Loke in the tree line. He meant to give them space and leave, but overheard Lucy say something about a week here is a day there only to have Loke correct her that it is worse. _Worse._ To see her crumble to the ground, tears streaming down her face at being forced to stay here hurt. _I mean, sure, she can typically use magic in her world and that's where all of her friends are. . But here. . . Here she doesn't have to fight monsters, and she can still see all of her friends, even if they aren't her original ones. She can be happy here if she gave it a real chance. _

He poked at the food on the plate, tumbling the berries over each other before taking a bite. _I mean, I get it. I really do, but it doesn't hurt any less understanding. Am I not good enough? I know that it's not me, 'it's her', or in this case, her world. Dammit! When did I become so selfish?! _He glanced up and caught himself staring. Her beautiful blonde hair spilled casually out of the messy pig tails she tied them in; her brown eyes staring at her plate while she ate slowly, clearly deep in thought.

Her gaze caught his and she smiled. "So where were you this morning?"

He took a sip of milk before responding. "I went for a jog. A really, really long jog. I ended up running the path twice." _Not a lie, after Loke left and she made it back to the house, I went out again and ran the entire thing again. _

Lucy nodded thoughtfully and stared back at her plate. "I called out Loke this morning." She looked back up. "My celestial spirit."

Natsu nodded. "Leo the Lion right?"

She smiled. "Yes!" Natsu couldn't help return the smile. _Why does her smile melt my heart? No! You need to stop! She will be leaving. _Natsu watched her bite her lower lip, deciding on how to summarize the conversation. "Well, Loke told me that even though it's been about a week here, it hasn't even been a day over there." She looked back to her plate and started to push the food around. "They are trying to figure it all out."

He felt his smile grow strained but held it nonetheless. "Lucy, I'm sure they'll find a way to take you home." She smiled sweetly in response. He returned his gaze to his plate and focused on the food, trying to decide how to change the subject.

"Natsu, I need to go see Mira today, to talk to her about my schedule."

He met her brown eyes and smiled. "I'll have to get you a cell phone."

She frowned, "Why?"

He felt himself smirk. "Well, why not? It's easier to get ahold of your job and me! Plus! I get to be the first contact in your phone."

She laughed lightly. "Fine! I'll get one, but you need to teach me how to use it!"

* * *

Once the duo finally arrived to Magnolia, Natsu got out and started to walk Lucy around town. She commented several times about how familiar everything was, and even dragged him down Strawberry street and pointed up to where she lived in her world. He brought her to a phone store and soon she had a small pink device she could call her own. He was more than pleased to put his number in it, taking a photo of the two of them as his contact photo. They soon found themselves outside of the rowdy tavern and it was late enough to eat a late lunch but early enough for an early dinner.

Once they walked into the tavern, a waitress named Kinana walked up and asked if they would like to be seated. Lucy smiled and followed the purple haired teen to their table. Natsu sat across from her, letting his gaze sweep over the room. Spotting a particular redhead, Natsu picked up his menu and held it up high enough to hide his head. "CRAP!"

Lucy looked up at him curiously. "What is it Natsu?"

Natsu peeked over the menu and watched the red head speak with Mira before turning her head sharply in his direction. He quickly ducked behind the menu again. "Erza's here."

Lucy turned in her seat and spotted that person storming over to their table. She felt herself wishing she could melt right out of her chair. "She looks mad." Lucy's head snapped to Natsu. "What'd you do?" She hissed angrily.

Natsu mumbled. "I kinda stole Gray's car and he threw a tantrum."

"WHAT?!"

"Natsu." The blonde and pink haired teens at the table jumped and slowly looked up to the looming figure beside the table.

"Erza." Natsu tried to smile confidently, from the expression on Lucy's face, he didn't think he was succeeding. He mentally gulped down his fear before clearing his throat. "What brings you to Fairy Tavern?"

Erza smiled, "Oh, you didn't hear? I work here. I have a full scholarship to the college from my grades and part time hours here."

Lucy paled. _Great I'll be working with Erza. Well, I mean Erza is great to work with, but at the same time. _*Shudders*

Erza looked over to Lucy curiously. "Who is this?"

Lucy stood up and stuck out her hand and smiled warmly at the redhead. "I'm Lucy. You must be Erza."

Erza smiled and took her hand giving it a strong squeeze. "Nice to meet you Lucy." She turned her gaze to Natsu. "And how do you know Natsu here?"

"Oh, Natsu helped me out of a bind. Still is helping actually. He helped me get a job here actually." That brought Erza's attention back to the blonde. "I actually came to talk to Mira about when I start."

Erza grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her off. "Mirajane is this way, I'll escort you."

While Mira and Lucy started to talk, Erza turned and marched back over to Natsu's table, staring daggers at him. "Now, what is this I heard about you stealing Gray's truck?"

Natsu nonchalantly stuck in hands in his pockets and leaned back in his chair. "I didn't steal it, I borrowed it."

Erza glared at him. "Without permission?"

"Maybe. ."

"Natsu! You can't just do something like that! What was Gray supposed to drive while you had his truck?"

"What? I gave him my car and keys to use!"

"Still, it wasn't right. I will have to inform your grandfather of your actions, maybe he will know how to properly handle this situation." Natsu started to chuckle; Erza frowned, "What, may I ask, is so funny?"

"Gramps is already mad at me for going up to Mt. Hakobe."

Erza's eyes widened in realization; she sat down and pulled her chair close to his. "Did you have anything to do with what was on the news last night?" Natsu shrugged in response, looking away. "NATSU! That's dangerous! How could you go up there alone to handle that?"

"I didn't go alone, I took Lucy."

"YOU WHAT?!"

"Shhhhh. . People are starting to look." He looked around self-consciously.

She leaned closer to him, "What on Earth would make it okay to take her up there?"

Natsu frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? You don't even know her. You don't know if it was a good idea or not."

"Natsu, how long have you known her for?"

He stared stubbornly at her, clearly refusing to acknowledge the question. Erza let out a sigh. "Well regardless, just taking up one person, a girl at that, is a bad idea."

"Why is involving her a bad idea?"

"Trust me, it just is." She looked around before slowly meeting his gaze once again. "You must know by now that they are also involved in the human trafficking system, specifically the women."

Natsu looked over to Lucy. "Yea, I know that . . . now."

"What made you race up there in such a hurry anyways."

"You remember Professor Macao? Romeo's dad. . ? Well he was up there and Gramps hadn't heard from him for some time. We saved him and released all of the women."

Erza's eyes widened and she sat back and stared at him, clearly impressed. She glanced over to the blonde that was happily chatting with Mira. "How helpful was Lucy?"

Natsu smiled, his gaze following over to his new friend as well. "She was the best."

Erza turned and smiled back to Natsu. "It's good to see you happy, you're like your old self."

Natsu huffed in annoyance. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Erza shook her head, her smile softening. "I'm glad." She stood up and backed away from the table. "Although I don't agree with punching Gray and stealing his keys. ." Natsu opened his mouth to argue so Erza corrected herself. " . . Excuse me, 'borrowed' his truck, but I'm glad it was for a noble cause."

Natsu beamed up at her. "Thanks Erza."

Erza started to walk away before turning back. "Oh and if you want to order anything, please let me know. I'll be your server tonight."

Lucy soon bounced back over and plopped into the chair across from Natsu. "I start Monday!"

Natsu smiled back to her, enjoying her enthusiasm.

She pulled out her cell phone and showed him a phone number that had Mira's face smiling next to it. "I also have her number in this, and she put the tavern's number in it as well." She beamed happily.

Once they finished with dinner, Natsu left Lucy at Fairy Tavern, telling her that he would be back soon, and headed to the college nearby. He slowly entered his grandfather's office and sat down in front of his desk.

Makarov watched the young, pink haired 'brat' avoid making eye contact as if his office was fascinating. He let out a low sigh. "Natsu." Green eyes hesitantly met his own. "You're late." He let out a long sigh. "I still think that it was reckless of you to go and do that. What was I supposed to tell your father if you were caught."

Natsu crossed his arms, grumpily muttering, "I wasn't going to get caught."

Makarov frowned, standing on his chair to add height to his side of the conversation. "What about your friend? What if she was caught by those. . . fiends? What then?" Natsu looked away, grumbling under his breath. "Well, I'm glad that everything is okay and I want you to tell me everything. Macao's information gets fuzzy halfway through."

Natsu was shocked. "Am I in trouble?"

Makarov rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Actually, I have something else in mind."

**Thanks everyone for reading, following, adding this as a favorite, and reviewing. Really, seeing the reviews motivates me to make this the best that I can. I will be taking a break for a few weeks while I'm on vacation, then I plan to continue back on a regular schedule like before. =) I hope your are all enjoying this story. **

**I have a few questions, just so I can make this story the best that I can. Are the chapters too long? And do you like how it breaks up the Earthland world in the first part before switching to regular earth for the remainder of the chapter? I wanted to make it so you know what's going on in both places. Should I add a label at the beginning of those sections to clarify? **

**Please let me know, I want to make this the best story that I can for everyone! **

**Thank you all for the love and support. I love you all and really appreciate you for taking the time to read my story. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright lovelies, I'm finally back from vacation. It's been a crazy, hectic time and I can't express how good it is to be home. I had even less internet time and computer time than I originally hoped I would. I hope this doesn't have too many grammatical errors and makes sense, I only reviewed it for mistakes once so I don't know if I caught them all. **

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 9 The Next Step**

**_Earthland~_**

Natsu was jolted awake by Gray. "Hey Flame brain! Wake up! We need to head to the guild!"

Natsu leapt off of the bed, causing Happy to tumble to the floor. He stared at the ice mage. "What time is it?"

Gray scoffed, shoving his hands in his pocket. "You're an hour late to the guild.

"Dammit! C'mon Happy!"

"AYE SIR!"

Soon the trio made it to the guild. Erza glared daggers at them. "Where have you been Natsu?"

He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I fell asleep."

Erza's expression softened at first before growing dangerous. "After rushing us you fell asleep?"

Gray sighed. "Guys, this isn't the time. The master wanted to make an announcement."

Loke came out from the Master's office and waved to the group. Natsu rushed across the room. "Loke! What are you doing here?" He looked around, sniffing the air. "Where's Lucy?"

Loke smiled grimly. "I saw her not too long ago. She's okay."

Natsu nodded slowly. "How much time has passed there?"

Loke frowned and looked around at Erza and Gray who had finally made it next to the pink haired dragon slayer. "5 days."

Natsu ground his teeth in frustration, clenching his fist tightly. "5 days?! It's only been one night here!"

Loke nodded slowly before turning to the others. "What's the plan, I told Lucy I was going to stay here and help as much as possible."

Erza stepped forward. "We are going to meet with the Exceeds and speak with them on what knowledge they have over other worlds." Loke nodded thoughtfully.

The master cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention. "Okay brats, listen up! Something tragic has happened and we need everyone's help in figuring out this situation."

Mira glanced at team Natsu worriedly before returning her attention back to the master. He slowly continued. "Lucy has been taken from this world." Several gasps went throughout the room. "She's not dead, just in another world, similar to the Edolas situation. From what we have gathered, this is an entirely different world altogether."

Several people started to talk amongst themselves. Erza cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention. "Natsu, Gray, Happy and myself will be going to speak with the Exceeds and see if they know more about this. If Pantherlily returns please inform him of the situation, we need to see if he knows anything about traveling to other worlds."

Kinana looked curiously over to Lisanna. "Would Lisanna know anything about going to other worlds?"

Lisanna frowned and slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry, I was taken against will and understanding."

Max looked at the master curiously. "How long ago did this happen?"

Makarov looked around the room slowly. "Yesterday evening."

Warren nodded and smiled. "Well, one night over there hopefully isn't too bad."

The master's expression grew solemn. "Time is running different there." Everyone listened intently. "Although it has only been one night here, it's been 5 days there."

Mira gasped. "Poor Lucy!"

Elfman stood up. "How are we so sure about how much time has passed there?"

Loke adjusted his sunglasses. "I've spoken with her a few times since it happened."

Makarov turned to Natsu and the team. "I think you should all head to the train station, we will handle the situation on this end."

Erza nodded and turned to Natsu and Gray. "We should head out and get the first train available."

After the master was finished speaking with the guild, he went back to his office. Max knocked on the door. "Master, if I may, can I come in and speak with you?"

* * *

**_~New World~_**

Once Natsu and Lucy finally made it back to the house, Lucy plopped down on the couch with a sigh. "Natsu. . ."

"Hmmm?"

"Want to go fishing tomorrow? I don't start work until Monday and tomorrow's Sunday. My last day off before I start."

Natsu eyed her curiously. "Why would you want to go fishing on your last day off for a while?"

Lucy shrugged lightly and smiled. "Well I promised Happy a good meal when I came back and I figured what's better than fresh fish?" Happy appeared next to Lucy, rubbing himself lovingly against her arm, purring with affection.

Natsu stared at the cat with thought. "Sure, it's been a while since I've brought Happy out on a fishing trip with me.

The next morning, Lucy was awoken by a hyperactive blue ball of bouncing fur named Happy. "I'm up! Geez you stupid cat!" Lucy grumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looked out the window and groaned, throwing herself back on the bed and hid her face under the pillow.

Natsu energetically sprang in the room. "What? You're not up yet?"

Lucy lifted the pillow up to give him an annoyed glare. "The sun hasn't even risen, so why should I?"

Natsu chuckled and closed the blinds. "There, now you can't know for sure until you get up."

Lucy turned and lifted the covers over her head, mumbling under her breathe. Natsu gave Happy a mischievous smile before launching himself onto the bed. Lucy shrieked in surprised when she was bounced into the air. She dug her way out of the sheets and comforter to give Natsu a dirty look. "What the hell?"

He stretched casually next to her, giving her an innocent expression. "What? I'm just waiting for you to wake up, might as well make myself comfortable." He tucked his hands behind his head and settled into the bed, closing his eyes.

Lucy's expression softened as she found herself staring; he slowly opened his eyes and returned her stare. Lucy felt herself blush as the silence dragged on and turned away. _He really isn't doing a good job trying to convince me to get out of bed. Wait. . WHAT DID I JUST SAY TO MYSELF?! This is a perfect reason to get out of bed. _She glanced back again and noticed Natsu's steady gaze hadn't lingered yet; she felt herself give a small gulp. _Yep, so getting out of bed. _ She turned and slowly slid out of bed, ignoring the burning gaze that bore into her back.

Lucy did a quick stretch and turned to face her pink haired friend lounging on the bed. "Okay, I'm up. Get out so I can get changed."

Natsu rolled off the bed and slowly made his way out of the room, closing the door behind him. Lucy slid on a pair of jean shorts and a light blue shirt before leaving the room. Going into the kitchen, she smiled seeing 2 plates with omelets neatly set on the table. She turned to the grinning Natsu. "Awe, thanks for making breakfast."

He shrugged lightly, "It's not like I don't know how to cook or anything."

Lucy smiled, "Yea, I remember, Café de Dragneel." Natsu chuckled at her joke.

They quickly ate breakfast and grabbed the gear that Natsu pulled out of the garage and started on their way with the bouncy blue cat bounding up the path ahead of them. Natsu turned to Lucy and smirked, "I guess we can get a workout keeping up with Happy. What do you think, want to go on a jog?"

Soon they made it to the river, slightly panting from the exertion of carrying the supplies and following the quick cat. They made themselves comfortable on the bank and sat in peace. Lucy laughed at Happy's antic of trying to swat at the fish in the water. She sighed out with content. "Have you fished a lot?"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders, watching the light play across the water. "We went a few times with my dad and a few of his friends, but as I've gotten older, our friends would go on camping trips and we sometimes go fishing then."

Lucy nodded thoughtfully before jumping in surprise. "Oh! I have a bite!"

Natsu watched the end of her rod bend slightly from the line being pulled. "Reel it in Luce."

Lucy struggled against the fish and let out a frustrated groan as she stood, pulled the rod back. "It won't. . come. . this way."

Natsu set his rod down and stood behind her, grabbing the rod; Lucy almost dropped it at his touch. She felt her cheeks go pink but carried on. Natsu furrowed his eyebrows and laughed. "What did you hook? A whale?"

"You don't have whales in your rivers, do you?"

Natsu shook his head laughing, before turning serious. He tightened his grip on the fishing pole and he gave a final pull. Lucy and Natsu fell back on top of some of the equipment with a loud crash. Lucy looked up apologetically. "I'm sorry Natsu."

He gave her a boyish grin and said, "Why are you sorry? You caught the biggest fish I've seen from this river." He pointed behind the equipment; she followed the direction he indicated and sure enough, there was a large fish, half the size of her, flopping carelessly around.

Lucy saw Happy out of the corner of her eye and caught him just as he was airborne, launching himself at this fish. "Happy, I think you should let Natsu handle the fish before you try to. It looks like it could eat you in one bite." Happy squirmed against her relentlessly, staring hungrily at the fish. Natsu gave Lucy his fishing pole while he went to work prepping the fish.

* * *

Lucy enjoyed working at the tavern, she spent the next week getting used to the menu and routine of working during the day. Mira had seemed impressed at how well Lucy managed to pick it up so quickly. Lucy insisted that she had some waitressing jobs in the past which Natsu would later poke fun at and she would go into stories of their more 'normal' jobs.

Natsu had told Lucy to make sure she'd have the weekend off, he had a surprise planned. She was getting anxious as it finally came to the weekend. Friday morning, Lucy was shaken awake by her excited, pink haired friend. He babbled on over breakfast that they would need to go shopping for supplies for their trip that weekend and soon she was feeling just as excited.

"So, Natsu, what kind of supplies do we need for this weekend trip?"

He smirked casually at her. "Well, we need a few new outfits."

Lucy frowned thoughtfully at him, before shrugging lightly and continued making breakfast. "So Natsu, what are we doing this weekend?" She waited and heard no response, so turned around and stared at his serious expression.

"Well, I know you know quite a bit about that whole thing where women are being abducted and stuff. . . Well. . My grandfather wanted me to check out some party at a Duke's house this weekend, it's invite only. I would be going in place of my father, and I figured it would be more fun with you." He frowned to himself. "I don't want you to get taken again, so I know it's probably not a good idea, but I can't imagine going without you."

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would your grandfather want you to go?"

"Well, apparently not many people know what Bora's face looks like, which is another great reason to bring you since you saw him up close." Lucy visibly shuddered at the memory. Natsu looked away, suddenly feeling ashamed. "Luce, if you don't want to come, I understand. I should have told you the entire plan from the start."

Lucy watched Natsu struggle with himself before she smiled reassuringly. "I wouldn't miss out on this chance in a lifetime! I just need you to fill me in on all of the details so I am aware."

Lucy felt her stomach flip several times at seeing his boyish grin reappear. Natsu animatedly started to fill her in on the details. The invite was a weekend party at the Duke's house. Guests could start arriving Friday night and it lasted through Sunday evening. Natsu planned on arriving late Friday night so they could scope the place out before the masquerade party Saturday evening, which was said to be the highlight of the weekend. Lucy nodded thoughtfully . "So how is your grandfather so sure that this Duke is involved with Bora?"

Natsu settled himself in his chair, taking a second helping a breakfast. "Well, I know I've heard my father speak about the Duke in the past, but it was said from an informant that all of the proof lies in a book in the Duke's library."

Lucy tapped her fingers on the table in thought. "An informant?"

"Yea, said to be the son of someone who worked for the Duke or something. . ?"

Lucy's fingers stopped, and she stared hard at Natsu. "Is the title of the book. . . Is it perhaps Daybreak?"

Natsu stared back at her with surprise. "How'd you know?"

Lucy rested her elbow on the table, forehead in her palm and raked her memories of her own experiences. _This is all just like when I first joined the guild. First Mt. Hakobe, now Daybreak. . ? Am I going to relive every major event again in this world. . And what happened to. . . _

"LUCY!" Natsu's shout and hand shaking her snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What? Sorry!" She glanced into his worried filled olive green eyes, forgetting to listen to him speak until he stared anxiously at her. "Sorry, I'm just spacing out a bit. . I'm. . What did you say?"

Natsu sighed and sat back in his seat, eyeing her with concern. "I asked if you were okay, and wanted to know how you know the book title."

"Are we going to Duke Everlue's mansion?"

Natsu eyed her warily. "Yes."

Lucy nodded. "Well, in my world, that was our first quest we did together. Well, first assigned quest. We went to Mt. Hakobe first to save our Macao, then went on this one." She looked up in thought. "My world's version of you got me to agree to go on the mission before I read the details so I wouldn't say no."

"Why would you have said no?"

Lucy frowned staring at him. "Because I was apparently bait, the Duke of Everlue was apparently looking to hire a blonde maid and then I was told I need to dress the part. Later you guys mentioned that the outfit wasn't necessary," *sigh* "but by then I was already dressed up so no point backing down."

Natsu started laughing, and soon Lucy joined in. "So you actually wore a maid's outfit?" Lucy nodded. "Would you wear one this time to blend in with the help."

Lucy scowled. "Did you plan on having me dress up like a maid?"

Natsu frowned. "No. I was going to bring you as my guest. My. . Plus one, I guess."

"Well why would you even offer to have me dress up as a maid?"

"I don't know, maybe you would be able to get around easier throughout the mansion, and now I'm curious to see you in the maids outfit." Lucy opened her mouth to respond, and closed it, at a loss for words. Natsu chuckled at her response, mentally kicking himself for that comment. He watched the blonde struggle with what to say before finally asking. "So what happened when you guys went to Duke Everlue's mansion?"

Lucy started to animatedly retell her experience; Natsu couldn't help but smile at her expressions. She went into details, using her hands to help emphasize certain parts. Soon the duo went out and headed towards Onibus, Natsu took Lucy to the dress shops and had her try on several formal gowns before they found a lovely halter strapped, maroon dress that and had an open slit in the bottom of the dress, teasingly showing off her right leg. The other dress was a deep blue that shimmered as she walked, clung to her voluptuous body and fashioned a similar slit as the maroon dress; the top of the dress was strapless and was sweetheart style so the top followed the curve of her generous bust very effectively. Natsu simply grabbed a few vests and ties and said he had his clothes back at the house. They also picked out a few basic outfits for her to wear during non-formal events that weekend. Lucy lost the battle of the wallets and Natsu gladly paid, insisting that he was the one dragging her to the event. Lucy insisted on paying for her own makeup with her proud income from working.

Soon they arrived back to the house and Natsu declared they would have to hurry and get ready so they could arrive that evening. Lucy rushed and started putting on makeup. Soon her makeup looked spot on, but she was at a loss at figuring out what to do with her hair. She finally caved and summoned cancer, who expertly went to work curling her hair and tying it in an intricate bun. Lucy looked at herself in the mirror pleased at her appearance. She jumped at a loud yelp from the door. She turned and spotted a large eyed, mouth agape Natsu staring at Cancer. "Is that a crab man?"

Lucy giggled. "Thanks Cancer!"

He crossed his arms, thrusting his sharp silver scissors in the air. "My pleasure, Baby!" He disappeared with a loud poof.

Lucy turned to Natsu. "What do you think?" She gave a slow spin in her maroon dress.

Natsu nodded back slowly. "Looks great, Luce." He tried to swallow but his throat suddenly felt dry. He smiled awkwardly and left the room, going to the kitchen.

Lucy was clearly less than pleased by his reaction, followed him to the kitchen she noticed for the first time his black suit that fit him perfectly. He wore a maroon vest and tie that contrasted against the grey undershirt he wore. She watched him grab a glass of water, pop a small white pill into his mouth and drain the glass. "Motion sickness pills?"

Natsu frowned at her before sighing. "Yeah." _I know she is aware of my motion sickness, it just. . makes me feel weak letting her see me take pills to get over it. I swear one day I'm going to get over this! _His eyes trailed back over to her and he quickly averted them to Happy's empty food bowl. "I'll give Happy a bowl of wet food, I know he already ate today and he has an automatic dry food dispenser, but he prefers the wet food."

Lucy bent down and scratched the blue cat's ears. "I guess we will just have to go on another fishing trip soon."

Natsu looked back to Lucy to make a remark, leaving himself wordless; his eyes instantly caught her exposed leg and he once again focused on the food bowl as if the task was the most important thing that needed to be done.

They two finally make their way to the car, Natsu loading the rest of their weekend attire in the trunk before starting the car. Lucy frowned thoughtfully. "Natsu, will this car pass as being fancy enough to not give us away.?" Natsu chuckled and nodded. She watched him curiously. "Natsu. . . Is your family. . are they wealthy?"

He raised his eyebrow and glanced at her. "Why would you assume that?"

Lucy stared at him with determination. "Well, first off, you just implied this is a very nice car, and that's probably expensive. Then there's the 'summer home' that your parents gave to you that is super upgraded. Then all of the times you insisted on buying my stuff, and I haven't heard you ever mention a job or go to one."

Natsu stared at her, deep in thought. He shrugged lightly and started the car. She grew impatient as he slowly pulled out of the drive way. "So. . . ?"

He sighed and looked at her. "It's complicated." She made a weird face, remaining quiet so he could continue. "My dad is a scientist so he makes pretty good money, and Grandine is a doctor." He looked out onto the road as he started down the path away from his house. "I mean, we definitely never hurt for money, but we don't typically spend carelessly. They give me a generous allowance as long as I stay out of trouble, maintain grades 'work' at least once a month."

"Work? What type of work?"

Natsu screwed his face in thought. "Anything that constitutes as volunteer work for at least 12 hours a month. I used to have to do that every weekend, but they are being a bit more lenient on it." Lucy hummed in response, digesting what he was telling her. Natsu continued. "Well, my old man always said that just because we were blessed with money doesn't mean we shouldn't understand the meaning of hard work. Grandine was the one to insist that it be volunteer work so we could help those less fortunate."

"What do you typically do when you volunteer?"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders. "A variety of things. Sometimes I tutor kids, sometimes I work at food banks or read to kids in the hospitals. Last month I went to the animal shelter for 5 10 hour days. Next weekend I'm actually going to go to a bee farm to help harvest honey."

Lucy stared at him, mouth agape. "A bee farm?" She deadpanned.

He smirked, "YEAH! Have you ever been to one?"

She crossed her arms over her chest with a frown. "Well, I doubt it's like yours. The bees we encountered were half the size we were and the hive was as big as the college. The client wanted us to get a few jars of honey since it's rare and hard to come by."

Natsu tore his eyes away from the road to give her a bewildered look. "Really?"

Lucy giggled. "Yea! We even managed to snag an extra jar and took it back to the guild hall. Mira made the best honey orange cake I've ever tried." Natsu smiled and returned his gaze to the road.

Once they arrived in the town nearby, Natsu quickly ran his car through the wash so it would be spotless when they pulled up onto the duke's property. When they finally pulled onto the property, the sun was just beginning to set behind the trees. A valet rushed and opened the doors, one taking the keys as the other grabbed their luggage. As they approached the doors, they were greeted by a beautiful, red-haired maid, smiling pleasantly at them. "Welcome, Mr. Dragneel, to the Everlue estate. I will have one of our maids come by and escort you to your rooms. After you are finished, you are welcome to join the rest of the guests in the lounge or in the dining room, where dinner will be served soon."

Natsu and Lucy nodded back in response. She clapped her hands and immediately a pink haired maid arrived. Lucy quickly wiped the shock off of her face and painted a bored expression. Natsu, on the other hand quickly looked over to Lucy questioningly. The pink eyes of the maid assessed the reaction of the couple and slowly picked up their bags. In a monotone voice, she directed them to follow her to their rooms. Soon they were on the third floor and were placed in a large guest suite. She turned to Lucy. "Let me show you where your room is, it is adjoined to this one." Lucy smiled to Natsu and slowly followed the pink haired maid through the doorway into the next room. The room was smaller with a smaller bed, the luxuriousness easily equaled the previous room. The maid swiftly set the bag down and turned to face Lucy. "Mistress! What are you doing here?"

Lucy sighed, realizing how little she really did know about the Lucy from this world and her relationships with other people. "Virgo. . I . . It's a long story." Virgo's expressionless face stared back at her relentlessly. "I could ask you the same thing. Why are you here at the Duke's mansion?"

"Oh, well after you left, mistress, the letters you sent were soon found out by your father. At first, he was angered with me and was threatening to fire me. I couldn't read the letters so I had no idea where to look to find you. He decided to have me apply here and work under cover to look into how the Duke made his fortune."

Lucy was shocked. "Really?"

Virgo nodded. "He said that he didn't trust the Duke and refused to agree to do business until he did a thorough investigation. Since this would benefit you in the future if you ever decided to return to the Heartfilia mansion and take over the business, I agreed."

Lucy frowned, "Oh Virgo, I wouldn't ever ask you to do all of that for me!"

Virgo nodded and continued her expressionless stare. "Yes, Mistress, I know; I just felt that it was the right thing to do." Lucy smiled and pulled Virgo into a tight embrace. Virgo closed her eyes and returned the hug, giving an extra strong squeeze in return. "Mistress, I worried so much."

Lucy released Virgo and stared into her eyes, she felt at a loss of what to say. This wasn't her Virgo, and she wasn't the Lucy she's referring to. It felt almost like a lie, pretending to be the other Lucy. As Lucy finally opened her mouth to respond, Natsu walked in. "Whoa, your room looks pretty nice also. Are you ready to go down?"

Before Lucy could reply, Virgo dipped into a deep bow. "If there is anything else I can do for either of you, please do not hesitate to inform me."

**I hoped you all liked it, I really wanted to get farther into the Duke chapter but if I did, I wouldn't have been able to post until at least Sunday/ Monday, possibly Wednesday and I feel like it's already been way too long since I last posted (that and after the long debate withmyself, it would work better this way). I have to catch up on a ton of school preparation for next semester and I have a bunch of work to catch up on, so I will try my best to get the next chapter out asap. I also have all of my favorite stories I'm dying to catch up on now that I'm back. **

**I want to thank everyone for their comments on the latest chapter. I write a personal message to every person that reviews, but I would still like to give a shout out to those that did leave a review on this last chapter. **

**kisstheskyx**

**Ayrmed**

**Ejimenez77**

**Pari forever ft**

**I couldn't message the person who left the comment as guest, so my response: I'm glad you like my chapters, I will strive to make them longer. Sorry this one is my usual 4,000 word range (I only count the story in my word count, not the author notes), the next one I'm aiming to make it at least 5,000 if not longer. I don't mind making them longer, it just definitely takes more time. **

**As requested, I did put labels on which world events are taking place, what do you all think? Helpful? **

**Everyone. Thank you for your continued support and a special thank you to those that reviewed, it helps me know what I'm doing right so I can keep it up. I plan on posting another chapter in a week, and will strive to keep up whatever it is that I'm doing that you all love so much.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you to those that reviewed.**

kisstheskyx

Gothazon

Pari forever ft

**I hope you all like the latest chapter. =)**

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 10 Duke Everlue's Mansion**

**_Earthland~_**

Erza's eyes snapped open, and she turned to glare at the steward. "I'm . . . I'm s s sorry ma'am. Y. . y. . you asked me wake you when we arrived." He stammered out nervously. Erza softened her gaze and mumbled out her thanks, giving herself a small stretch to get the blood pumping in her tired muscles.

She turned and looked at her sleeping companions and frowned at Natsu. _This was the first time I've ever seen him eager to get on a train. He barely seemed affected by the motion sickness until he fell asleep, and even that was minimal. _She let out a sigh and stood up, walking over to shake Gray.

Gray sat up, bloodshot eyes met Erza's. "Already there? I feel like I just closed my eyes." Erza nodded slowly and turned to look over to Natsu; Gray followed her gaze. "Are you worried about him as well?"

"I've never seen him so. . ." She let out a long sigh and looked around, throwing her hands up. "On a train."

Gray nodded solemnly. "Yea, I know what you mean. I know we are all worried about Lucy, but I didn't think I'd ever see him so worried he would barely notice his motion sickness." Gray glanced over to Erza, "Do you want to wake him up or should I?"

She turned towards the doorway. "I need to get my luggage, I'll let you wake him up, and Gray. ." She turned her head , looking at him over her shoulder. "Try to be nice." Before Gray could retort, she swiftly left the train car.

Gray rubbed his dark hair, grumbling under his breath. "Great." He stepped over to Natsu and put his hands in his pockets. He gave a quick kick to the backpack Natsu had under his head, causing the dragon slayer to tumble out of his seat.

"What the hell?!" Angry, olive green eyes glared at Gray. "Why'd you do that ice cycle breath?"

Gray shrugged, looking away. "I figured you'd want to leave as soon as we arrived. Geez Natsu."

It took a few moments before realization came crashing back to Natsu; he grimly grabbed his bag and left, Happy trailing behind slowly.

Gray walked outside of the train to see Natsu staring at the sky, expression unreadable. "Gray, how long was that train ride again?"

Gray clenched his jaw and followed Natsu's line of sight; the sun was in the opposite side of the sky, showing signs of evening approaching. "Hey man, we knew it was going to be a 5 hour ride, we just didn't expect the train to break having another hour and a half delay." Gray watched Natsu clench his fist and give a slow nod. "It's still faster than walking."

Happy flew over and settled himself on the dragon slayer's shoulder. "Ya hungry Natsu?"

Natsu turned and gave a small smile to the blue Exceed. "I guess getting a quick bite before taking off wouldn't hurt."

Erza's voice gave all those present a small jump of surprise. "I think eating would be a grand idea, let's get something that we can eat on the road, which reminds me, Natsu, Happy, which way do we take?"

Happy pointed in a North Eastern direction. "That way, about a 2 hour walk."

Natsu glanced at Happy and smirked, " I think we can make it in 30 minutes if we really try!"

Happy jubilantly jumped in the air "AYE!"

"Hold it!" They duo turned to see Erza's glare. "I don't think it's wise to rush into the forest, we don't want to get lost. From what you've said, you've only visited a few times. This place isn't on a map so neither Gray nor myself and verify that we are heading in the right direction."

Happy frowned, "Don't you trust our judgment?"

Gray scoffed, "How many times have we let you both lead us and we ended up lost. I seriously don't know how Lucy puts up with you both so much."

Natsu opened his mouth to reply before shutting it and storming off. Happy glared at the ice mage, "Real nice Gray!"

Gray pulled his hand to his forehead, frustration illuminated from him. Erza placed her hand on his shoulder, "Let's hurry."

After picking up some dumplings, the small team headed to the forest. Happy scouted from the skies to ensure they were heading in the right direction. And hour into the journey, the small team finally arrived into a large clearing. Gray and Erza both felt their jaws drop.

There was a glorious little town built, little as in everything was miniaturized. They slowly followed Natsu and Happy as they wandered through the dirt streets, walking past the small houses. The Exceeds all chorused their friendly hellos as the team passed by. Happy stopped at a small house and enjoyed a brief chat with another blue cat wearing an apron before they continued on towards the small lake. Erza and Gray looked over the large lake where many of the Exceeds were fishing either on the small dock or on small boats littered across the water.

The Exceed with the repetitive punching arm soon approached the team, concern etched across his face. "Oh, so you have arrived." He looked away sadly, "I am sorry."

Erza exchanged a perplexed look with Gray before turning to Natsu; confusion and frustration radiated from the pink haired dragon slayer.

* * *

**_New World~_**

Natsu watched the pink haired maid leave before turning to Lucy. "Isn't she one of your celestial spirits?"

"What? No! I guess I never really told you about how I got most of my spirits. I actually received Virgo's key after our Daybreak job."

Natsu frowned, "So, what will happen then after we finish here?"

Lucy stared at him, her expression puzzled. "I'm honestly not sure."

He turned towards the doorway, a boyish grin painted across his face. "I guess we will just have to hurry up and find out then, won't we?"

"Yea." Lucy giggled at his eagerness.

They walked into the Duke's Parlor, waiting in line behind his other guests to say their introductions. Natsu and Lucy finally made their way to the front to see the Duke lounging in a luxurious chair, several beautiful young women surrounding him. Lucy held back her disgust at seeing him. _Ugh! He looks exactly the same! Round, balding, weird mustache growing from his nose. At least his opinion of beauty is different. Maybe things are different here. _ Natsu bowing pulled her from her thoughts in time for her to hastily add a curtsy of her own. "Thank you for inviting us, your Grace."

The Duke looked disappointedly over to Natsu. "You're Igneel's son? Sorry for my disappointment, I assumed your father was attending."

Natsu smiled apologetically. "My apologies, your Grace, he was unable to tear himself away from work and sent me in his stead."

The Duke's eyes trailed over Lucy curiously, "And who may this be?"

Lucy curtsied again, looking down. "Lucy, your Grace. It is a pleasure to meet you."

She felt his gaze rake over her and she held back the shudder that her body protested to make. She lifted her head and smiled sweetly over to him. His scrutinizing gaze was interrupted by Natsu's abrupt comment, "Shall we leave you to your other guests?"

Duke Everlue looked quickly between the two before nodding. "I shall see you both at dinner." With that comment, Natsu and Lucy quickly left his presence and walked across the room.

Natsu leaned over to Lucy, "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know." She breathed back.

"You said the Duke didn't like you in your world."

She stared at him uncertainly. "He didn't, I don't know why this was so fascinated with me." She turned towards the wall of books they were standing next to. "Let's start looking at these books and see if we can find it." She turned seriously to Natsu. "Discretely though."

He chuckled, "Yea, yea. Discrete." His eyes casually roamed the expanse of the wall. "So what happened next for you? He shifted his gaze so he could see her reactions in the corner of his eye.

"Well, we didn't come when there was a party, so I'm at a loss. You found the book, they attacked us, we got separated. We defeated them." She let her gaze roam casually over the room of people, stomach churning in disgust when spotting the Duke staring in her direction. She shifted uncomfortably, drawing Natsu's attention.

He smiled down to her, "Well, after this next 24 hours or so, we won't have to deal with him again."

She looked hopefully up into his olive green eyes. "You're right! We can do this!"

Soon they were ushered out of the parlor and into the large dining room. A butler escorted Lucy away from Natsu and pulled out a chair for her. As she slowly scooted into her chair, she was relieved to see Natsu sitting across from her. As the room filled, she realized that she wasn't going to be able to make even small talk with him, she turned to see her conversation options were. The girl on her left smiled sweetly at her and soon Lucy found that they had a lot in common. They both dove into a long conversation about books and favorite novelists.

"So who is your favorite author?"

Without thinking, Lucy blurted out, "Kemu Zaleon!"

The girl blinked back in surprise and Lucy felt panicked until the girl beamed back. "He's my favorite author as well!"

Lucy felt relief wash over her as she continued, "I've read every book."

The girl raised her eyebrow, a smirk played across her lips. "Well I can guarantee you that you haven't." This piqued Lucy's interest.

"How are you so sure?"

The girl looked down the table to where the Duke was sitting before turning back to Lucy and beaming. "My family knows the Duke very well, so I've been coming here since I was little. The Duke has a book written from Kemu Zaleon based on himself."

Lucy leaned forward, showing excitement. "Have you read it?"

The girl frowned slightly, and gave the blonde an apologetic smile. "Yea, it really isn't that good though."

Lucy licked her lips with anticipation, "Where is the book? I'm dying to read it."

"In the library of course." Lucy nodded thoughtfully. _Figures, same place as last time, now I just need an excuse to go in there._

Across the table, Natsu wasn't having as much luck as Lucy for talking companions. The man next to him prattled on about his archeological finds. Natsu internally groaned and fought the temptation to slam his head against the table. Looking over to Lucy, he was happy that at least she was having fun. Natsu's eyes trailed along the table, taking in the other guests. The host sat proudly at the head of the table; Natsu was concerned at how often his beady little eyes landed on Lucy.

He took a deep breath and turned to the gentleman next to him, finally deciding to participate in conversation. "So. . Er. . Sean Cook."

"Jean Luc!"

"Jean Luc, sorry. Right, so Jean Luc, how are you acquainted with the Duke?"

"Well actually, we met through a mutual friend you could say." Natsu nodded, waiting for him to continue. "He said he would actually help fund the Archaeological Society that I was telling you about if we could help him find a few things."

Natsu nodded absently. Jean Luc glanced across the table. "So, Natsu was it? Actually, I was wondering if you know the young blonde sitting across from us?"

Natsu stared curiously at the man. "Perhaps."

Jean Luc noted his reply and continued to watch the conversation across the table. "Would you know her name?"

"Yeah." He replied slowly, a frown forming.

Jean Luc seemed to wave off his thoughts. "Sorry, she actually looks like someone I know." The archaeologist laughed.

Natsu picked at his dinner, wishing more that he declined his grandfathers request. _When he said I would sneak in under cover and look for valuable information and Bora and the Duke, I was expecting it to be more like those spy movies. Or hey, even a ninja movie. Not some fancy party with boring conversations. _Natsu realized Jean Luc had asked him a question and was waiting for a response. "Sorry, I didn't catch that."

Jean Luc smiled, leaning closer. "I asked you if you plan on going on the hunt tomorrow?"

Natsu stared at the man. "Hunt?"

Jean Luc nodded. "Actually, most of the men will be accompanying the Duke, he wanted to throw a traditional party. ." Natsu let the man prattle on as he thought about searching the house, deciding he's need an excuse to leave the hunt early or somehow avoid it altogether.

When dinner was finally over, the crowd went back into the parlor and it was several hours later before the duo could finally slip away and head back to their designated rooms. Walking into Natsu's room, Lucy threw herself on his bed. "Ugh. I think I'm done with this party, this mansion, these people. There are only a few I can actually bear."

Natsu plopped himself next to her, letting out a groan of his own. "Don't say actually, please."

Lucy gave Natsu a perplexed look before giggling. "Oh, right! You were sitting next to Jean Luc!"

Natsu turned and faced her. "You know him?"

A loud, close noise interrupted both of their thoughts. Lucy sat up nervously, "What's that?"

Natsu stared at his bag. "I think I hear it coming from there."

The two stood over the bag for several minutes before Lucy finally nudged Natsu. "Open it, it's your bag!"

He gave Lucy a childlike pout and she playfully stuck out her tongue. Natsu knelt down and slowly zipped open the black bag. A blue ball of fluff rocketed out of the bag and launched itself on the bed. Natsu and Lucy stood, mouths agape, staring at the bed in surprise. "HAPPY?"

Lucy walked over and sat gingerly next to the cat. "What are you doing here Happy?"

Natsu watched her with amusement before turning his attention to the cat that was wrapping himself around her arm, purring. "Happy didn't want to be left out. I think it's your fault."

Lucy's jaw dropped. "My fault?! How could this possibly be my fault?"

Natsu sat on the other side of the blue cat and scooped him up. "You tell him all of the stories of flying cats and fighting monsters, now he wants to be part of the action." Holding Happy up in front of Lucy, Natsu continued, "Look at this innocent face, and your trying to force your crazy adventures on him."

Lucy puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms. "Well fine! I won't tell you any more stories then!"

Natsu pouted, "Oh c'mon Lucy! I was just kidding." He watched her stand up and walk across the room to her door.

"I think we need to get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Natsu threw himself back on the bed, letting go of Happy so he could roam the room again. "We don't even have an idea of where to look for the book."

"Not true." Natsu curiously met Lucy's triumphant brown eyes. She held up her finger in the air, informing Natsu happily, "I actually had a nice conversation at dinner with someone who has seen that book. She told me it's in the library."

Natsu beamed, "Great! It'll be a cinch! How big can a library be?"

Lucy frowned and let out a small sigh. "If I remember correctly, it is quite a large library."

Natsu let a groan escape and he rolled over on his stomach. "Great."

Lucy stretched and released a long yawn. "I think I'm tired." She made her way towards the adjoining door, "Goodnight Natsu."

Lucy slowly closed the door and leaned against it, slowly letting her eyes run roam cautiously over her room._It feels wrong being in this house, especially alone. I know Natsu is in the next room over, but still._ Letting out a deep breath, she finally detached herself from the door and slowly stepped out of her shoes. _I need to calm down, it's just one or two nights, I think I can handle this. _Hanging the dress, she stepped into a soft pair of sleeping shorts and a tank top. She took another deep breath before shutting off the lights and sliding under the sheets.

Lucy laid under the sheets for what felt like hours, every small sound making her jump; the wind whipped itself ferociously against the window causing her nerves to break. _I don't feel safe here, I need to leave. . . Now._

She finally stepped out of the sheets, jumping as the wind started to noisily harass the window again.

Natsu sighed once Lucy left the room; he got off the bed and quickly changed into comfortable sleeping attire. Happy sat at the adjoining door to Lucy's room, staring at it as if it would burn a hole. "Happy, you're not going in there tonight. You should have gone with her when she left the room." The cat made no notion that he heard the boy, his stare continued to assault the door.

Natsu frowned at the cat, calling him a traitor under his breathe, before flipping the light switch and climbing onto the large bed and sprawled out in the middle. Natsu smirked to himself, pleased that he could take up most of the bed like this, laying on it any other way would have made him feel small, childlike, and that would have put him on edge at the Duke's. He closed his eyes and listened; _the wind whipping itself at the windows, the natural creaking sound that large houses make, Happy's collar jingling lightly, his door creaking open. HIS DOOR CREAKING OPEN?_

Natsu's eyes shot open and went to the main door. _Still closed. _He shifted his gaze to the adjoining door and almost forgot to breath. His blonde friend picked up Happy and stuck him in front of her face, whispering words of affection, before carefully placing him back on the ground. She slowly made her way to his bed, her shorts and tank top leaving much of her light, creamy skin to stand out in the moonlight. She leaned over the bed, checking to see if he was awake. He closed his eyes, leaving them just open enough to peek through his lashes.

"Natsu. ." Her light whisper barely heard with his heart hammering in his ears. "Are you awake?" He made no move, focusing on keeping his breathing even. "I'm sorry to bother you. . I. ." she leaned forward on the bed, her hands pressed into the bed, a nervous expression painted across her face. "I. . I was wondering if I could. ."

The wind whistled through the window panes, pushing a branch against the glass with startling scratching noise. Lucy jumped onto the bed in alarm and turned to face the sounds. Laughing at herself she turned back to Natsu, catching his surprised eyes staring back at her. Lucy put on an awkward smile. "I'm sorry for bothering you. . I just. ."

Natsu half sat up, putting his weight on his elbows. "You don't feel comfortable being back in this house?" Lucy looked away, shaking her head in embarrassment; Natsu smiled reassuringly. "It's fine, I understand. You don't want to let your guard down, especially with what happened in your world when you came here."

Lucy stared at Natsu with uncertainty. "Would it be weird. . if I stayed in here with you?"

Natsu felt his heart practically jump out of his chest, he stared at the blonde beauty in front of him, sitting on his bed, biting her bottom lip nervously, asking HIM if she could stay with him tonight. "Yea, that's fine." He scooted over. "The bed's plenty big."

Lucy smiled thankfully back to him before scooting to the top and sliding under the sheets. "Thanks Natsu!"

He stretched back across his half of the bed with a euphoric smile. "No problem."

* * *

Natsu could tell the room was starting to brighten without opening his eyes. He started to roll onto his stomach when his arm instinctively wrapped around the person snuggled next to him. His eyes jolted open; he took in his surroundings, letting déjà vu sink in. Lucy was tucked in under his chin, her head resting on his left arm. Her body was curled up next to him, facing the other direction.

Natsu carefully lifted his arms and cautiously rolled away from the sleeping blonde. Laying on his back, he stared at her head and frowned. _How do I get my arm out from under her? _He tried to wiggle his fingers, slightly concerned at the lack of feeling he had in them. She let out a soft murmur and rolled over, resting her head cozily into his shoulder, her delicate arm draped over his chest. He inhaled sharply, panicking at the thought of her waking up. He watched her sleep and he felt himself calming, her beautiful face set in a content picture melted his heart.

Natsu's eyes caught something blue in the corner of his eye; he shifted his gaze and felt dread wash over him. Happy was stalking towards them. Natsu wiggled his foot with hopes the cat would get distracted, but Happy didn't even notice. He crouched low in his pouncing position and Natsu looked back to unaware blonde, contently still deep in slumber. As Happy launched himself at the two, Natsu raised his arm, blocking the cat. The sudden jolt of his motion snapped Lucy from her sleep and she sat up startled. Natsu sat up with her, his green eyes filled with a worried apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

Lucy stared at him; he could practically see the wheels turning in her tired eyes. 1: They are sleeping in the same bed. 2: Under the same sheets. 3: Proximity. Her eyes grew wide and a blush appeared on her cheeks as she scooted away, looking at the sheets in embarrassment. "It's fine. Sorry." She slipped out of bed and gave herself a stretch, giving Natsu too good of a view. He hurriedly looked away and frowned when spotting the blue cat perched near the edge of the bed. Natsu shot Lucy a quick glance to confirm she wasn't looking before shifting his leg, knocking Happy to the floor. The cat let out a disgruntled yowl, causing Lucy to look over curiously. Natsu gave her an innocent smile and shrugged his shoulders.

Lucy felt her heart pounding in her chest staring at the pink haired guy lounging in bed smiling at her. After being awoken in his arms, seeing him in this morning light, his bright smile. . . She wasn't sure how much more her heart could take. She gave him a sheepish smile, resisting the impending blush from surfacing with all of her will power. "I'll. . Uh. . go get changed I suppose." Natsu nodded and flopped back on the bed, eyes still watching her. As Lucy started to walk towards her door, she watched Happy rush from behind the bed to catch up with her. He stopped briefly to give Natsu an annoyed glare before continuing to hurry into her room. She shook her head and wondered if she even wanted to know what that was about.

Later that afternoon, Natsu was pleased to see that he was able to leave the hunt early. He had to ask 2 different maids where the library was after getting lost in the maze of a mansion. When he finally slipped into the large room, he instantly spotted Lucy on the second level of the library balancing on a ladder reading through the hundreds of titles. "Hey Luce!"

She let out a yelp of surprise and grasped the handles in an attempt to balance herself; the blonde shot him a frustrated glare. "What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?"

He let out a chuckle and continued to stare, keeping his eyes focused on her face. "Why are you checking way up there? Have you already checked all of the ones down here?"

Lucy frowned. "Well I started to, but he insisted that he wanted to look through those."

Natsu felt his smile slip as he cautiously asked, "He? Who's he?"

"How could you forget?" Her playful smile and bright eyes confused Natsu even more until finally a rush of blue bounced from a nearby chair and small claws caught his shirt.

Natsu jumped in surprise, before turning back to Lucy. "He as in Happy?" He drawled out as the cat climbed onto his shoulder and perched comfortably there.

Lucy nodded, amusement filled her expression. "Duh! Who else?"

Natsu cocked his head to it's side, hilarity weaved into his grin. "You know he's just a cat, right?"

Said blue cat swatted his ear in response, causing Lucy to erupt in a fit of laughter. "Yea, well. . Old habits die hard as they always say." She turned and sat on the ladder step, resting her elbow on her knee, head in hand, watching them. "So how was the hunt? How'd you get out of it?"

Natsu stretched his arms behind his head and gave Lucy a smug smile. "I told them my dad needed to talk to me about work, they didn't even question it."

Lucy nodded thoughtfully, giving a soft hum in response. Natsu turned and started to casually look through the books. "Oh look at this!" He pulled a book out and showed it to Happy. "This book is about fish." He started to thumb through the book as Happy crawled down his arm to get a better look. "There are lots of pictures!" Lucy giggled as Happy pawed the page in excitement. Natsu casually tossed the book to a nearby chair, resulting in Happy leaping off of his arm and bounced his way over to the 'fish book'. Natsu gave Lucy a triumphant smile before turning back to the case. Lucy felt like she was reliving a distant memory and watched Natsu with nostalgia. He thumbed through several more books before jubilantly yanking a gold one off the shelf and facing Lucy with a childish smile. "This one's sparkly!"

Lucy giggled and started down the ladder. "Natsu, you found it."

He gave the book a perplexed look before grinning proudly to Lucy. "Hey what do you know? This is it. See Lucy! You didn't have to climb all the way up there to look for it."

She grabbed the book, giving him a failed attempt at a pointed look before opening and scanning the pages. _It's not quite the same story, looks like the plot is similar though. _

Natsu scooped up Happy and placed the 'fish book' back before turning to his blonde companion. "So now what?"

Lucy frowned. "I guess we can go, but it might look suspicious."

"I guess we can stay for the party tonight and leave first thing in the morning." Natsu replied slowly.

Lucy stared at the book in her hands. "Should we take this back to our room now or should we just come back for it?"

Natsu watched her worried expression and sighed, taking the book. "I guess we know where it's at, so we can just grab it first thing tomorrow or tonight before we go to bed, that way it's less likely to know it's missing until we are already gone." He slid the book back onto the shelf and gave it a solemn look before turning back to her with a reassuring grin plastered across his face. She couldn't resist returning his smile, despite the bad feeling she felt twisting in her gut.

**I originally planned on finishing the Duke confrontation this chapter but I realized it would probably take another week to bust through it all, and I think I like what I have planned better now anyways. This chapter is still the normal length. I hope you enjoy it, I look forward to writing the next chapter, I've had the ideas buzzing through my head for about a month now and it's so exciting to actually type it out. I'm actually stuck on how to proceed after the Duke part, I think I know what I want to do, but we shall see. **

**Thank you all for your support, I can't believe it's already 10 chapters! For those of you following both of my stories, I posted another chapter to Dragon Demolishers not too long ago. I actually have 2 other stories I have started to write, nowhere near post ready. When this one gets farther along or my other story gets finished I might start to post another story, we shall see. **


	11. Chapter 11

**I want to give a thank you shout out to everyone that reviewed this story this past chapter. **

_OgaxHilda_

_kisstheskyx_

_artistofthemind_

_Gothazon_

**Thank you for your continued support of this story. I also want to thank everyone that has added this as a favorite and are following this story and me.**

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 11**

**_Earthland~_**

Natsu's fist collided with a nearby tree, shattering the trunk; he turned and stormed off in the direction they arrived. Happy used his aero magic to hover in the air, torn between following Natsu and talking more with the Exceed. Erza pressed her hands to her temple. "When did the queen depart, Nadi was it?"

Nadi frowned thoughtfully, "Earlier this afternoon. She said that she was heading towards Fairy Tail, she had a vision and said that she would be needed for a few weeks. A few of her closest advisors went with her to help her with the information." He squirmed nervously, "She wondered if anyone from your guild would stop by which is why she left today, hoping to arrive before anyone would think to come to us." He stared off into the direction of the destroyed tree, concern etched across his face. "I'm sorry, I'm sure if she knew you would be coming so soon, she would have waited."

Gray crossed his arms across his chest, an annoyed scowl spread across his face. "If she can see the future how did she not see us coming?"

Nadi gave him an apologetic glance, "Well, she doesn't see everything, just sees the most important details."

Erza nodded understandably, "Yes, similar to Carla's. Tell me, do you know what she saw?"

He gave a small smile. "Actually, yes." Gray relaxed and Happy smiled excitedly. "She said that she saw Lucy being pulled into another world." He placed one of his hands under his chin in thought. "She said she saw herself at the Fairy Tail Guild Hall talking with everyone. She tried to focus on wherever Lucy was taken; however, she only was able to see small fragments and couldn't piece them together."

"Do you know anything about passing into other worlds?" Erza inquired, leaning forward in hope.

Nadi thought hard. "No, I don't believe I know much. I knew that there were already portals opened in our world from the humans and we used those portals to send the eggs and watched the humans collect magic. I don't know if Queen would know how they open the portals, but I do know that she will be helpful to have around with her visions and her experience in controlling them."

Gray looked to Erza. "So now what? We have to head all the way back to the guild?"

Erza looked to the darkening sky, thoughts churning with mixed feelings. "I don't think we have a choice."

Happy stared at his feet. "So, was coming here a waste? We spent most of the day trying to get here! How much time has been wasted in Lucy's world?"

Gray ground his teeth. "This is so frustrating!"

Erza stared pointedly at him. "And what would you have done back at the guild?" Gray looked away, mumbling incoherently. "Gray!" His gaze met hers. "I understand you're frustrated, we all are. We thought we were doing what's best. How were we to know the Exceed Queen would head to Fairy Tail on her own?"

Gray nodded in response, "Yeah. So should we start to head back to the guild?"

Nodding slowly, Erza smiled to Nadi. "Thank you for everything Nadi, we appreciate your help." The Exceed nodded his head with sympathy. Erza turned and marched towards the town. "Let's not waste time, we should head back immediately."

Happy flew into the fly, "I'm going to find Natsu."

Gray watched Happy fly off before turning and thanking Nadi. He trailed after Erza, maintaining a good distance behind her.

* * *

**_New World~_**

Lucy twirled in front of the mirror again before deciding that she was pleased. She loved that this dress had a long slit for her leg; although, she worried it went too high up and someone might see her keys she strapped on. She patted the spot, twisting in front of the mirror, reassured that there was no noticeable bulge.

She grinned and turned towards the closed adjoined door to Natsu's room; Natsu had left a few hours ago after she called Cancer to come help with her hair, Lucy hid her amusement when Natsu caught Happy, midair, leaping hungrily at her spirit. The small blue cat squirmed in his arms, frantically trying to reach the giant crab; Natsu left the room soon after.

Lucy walked over to the door and slowly opened it, hoping that Natsu was already finished changing. She poked her head in and spotted Natsu, dressed in a suit, crouched in front of the bed having a very serious conversation with Happy. Lucy saw Happy's ear twitch when she creaked the door open farther so she could slip into the room. The cat's focus remained on the pink haired guy in front of him. Lucy put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. _And he makes fun of me for talking to the cat! _

* * *

Natsu left Lucy's room, still adjusting to her crab man spirit. Once the door was shut, he let Happy free himself from Natsu's arms and rush to the door adjoining their rooms. It didn't take long for Natsu to get ready so he lounged around his room waiting for Lucy to be ready. He looked at the clock and let out another groan. _It started about 10 minutes ago, Lucy and I agreed that we wouldn't join until about an hour into the party so we could avoid the Duke as much as possible._

He stared at the blue cat that hovered by the door to Lucy's room. Letting out a sigh he picked up Happy and placed him on the bed. He crouched down, getting eye level to the stubborn feline. "Okay buddy, listen up." Happy's attentive gaze focused on Natsu. "We are still undercover so we can't take you with us down to the party." The cat's ear flicked, Natsu wasn't sure if that meant he was listening or not, so he continued. "So you can't leave this room until we are finished, okay?" Happy's gaze was unwavering; he stared at Natsu with large black eyes as if expecting something. "Sorry buddy."

Hearing Lucy's angelic laughter, Natsu whipped around only to have his breath stolen from him. She looked perfect from her sparkling silver shoes all the way up her long legs that the slit in the dress revealed, continuing up her dazzling midnight blue dress up past her generous breasts that were so pleasantly displayed, her beautiful face framed by her blonde curls. Even with her hands on her hips and that goofy grin on her face, Natsu could only think of one word. _Gorgeous. _

She shook her head, the curls bouncing gracefully. "You make fun of me talking to Happy like that, and then you do it too!"

A smile crept across Natsu's face. "Yea, I guess your weirdness is contagious."

Lucy walked over and sat next to Happy on the bed, scratching behind his ears; he let out a long purr of satisfaction before rubbing himself against her arm. Her eyes wandered away from Natsu and settled on the clock, a frown appearing. "I was hoping it was later in the evening."

Nastu nodded slowly, not taking his eyes away from her face. She slowly turned and smiled at Natsu, he tried to catch every detail so he could remember this moment forever. Lucy stood, and gave a small twirl, "What do you think Natsu?"

Natsu swallowed down his nervousness. "Stunning."

A small blush graced her cheeks. "Well I have to say, you look dashing in a suit."

"Does this make me look like a dashing spy?" He asked with a cheeky grin.

Lucy rolled her eyes with a light hearted laugh. "Spies aren't supposed to look like spies." She arched an eyebrow playfully, "But I do suppose most spies have a beautiful woman to help them go unnoticed."

"Yea, too bad we couldn't get one of those." She frowned at his playful expression, crossing her arms across her chest with a loud "Hmfftt!" Natsu bit his lip to hold back his laughter, and shook his head. "Sorry, I was just joking."

She turned and sat on the bed once again, clearly not amused. He sighed and rolled his eyes, wondering if she would really be upset at that joke. Hearing her giggle pulled him out of his thoughts. She turned to him, holding up the blue cat. "Sorry, I was just thinking, that was a comment Happy would usually make." He felt a grin spread across his face. Lucy stood up, "Okay, are we ready to go?"

"Almost." Lucy turned to Natsu and watched him walk back over to his bag. He turned and handed her something wrapped in a blue silk fabric.

She eyed him cautiously before slowly unwrapping it, her breath hitched when a small delicate mask fell into her hands. She stared in awe at its midnight blue color with small stars that shimmered across the front. There were a few larger stars that sparkled along the edges of the top. Lucy let her fingers trace one of the stars before murmuring, "It's beautiful."

Natsu's hand gracefully plucked it from her grip; she looked up and let out a small gasp seeing him wearing his own mask. His black mask almost looked like it was on fire with the intricate blue, orange, and red flames that shimmered so majestically. He carefully placed the mask on her face, and stepped around her to tie the ribbon in the back. Lucy stepped in front of a large, floor length mirror and couldn't help but smile. She turned to Natsu and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you."

He shrugged carelessly, "It was nothing, I just thought that it matched the dress, and well. . with the stars, it just felt like it belonged to you."

Lucy felt like her giddy smile could last for years on her face, she looked into his olive green eyes and looked away quickly. "I suppose we should head to the party now, I think enough time has passed." Natsu quietly agreed and they soon left, making sure Happy was still on the bed before closing the door.

At the party, Natsu and Lucy could make out many of the guests that they spoke with the night before, even behind their ridiculous costumes. Natsu quickly asked Lucy to dance after noticing the lecherous stares she was receiving from several of the nearby single men. He gracefully whisked her around the dance floor, leaving Lucy amazed at how well he danced compared to her own Natsu. They stopped dancing when Lucy spotted a familiar pink maid carrying refreshments on a silver tray. Virgo smiled emotionlessly to the duo. "Would you like a drink, Mistress?"

"Sure!"

As Lucy reached out a gloved hand to accept a glass, Virgo leaned forward. "No, you don't want a glass." The pink eyes held some underlying meaning that made Lucy's skin crawl.

"On second thought, I'm not very thirsty."

Natsu watched the exchange bewildered. Virgo bowed, "Please let me know if there is anything I can do for either of you this evening." Standing up, she gave a quick look around before walking next to Lucy. "Don't take off your mask, the master has come." With that, the pink haired maid vanished.

Natsu frowned, "What was that supposed to mean?"

Natsu watched her chew on her bottom lip. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think I have an idea." She scanned the crowd around them, easily 100 guests were in this ball room. She walked around with Natsu, almost bumping into Jean Luc. Lucy stepped back and let out a small gasp at who the man was talking to. She turned towards Natsu and dragged him away from the men.

"What's going on Luce?" He grabbed her arms, stopping her in front of him, and stared into her large brown eyes.

"My father."

Natsu stared unintelligently at her. "What?"

Lucy stared over his shoulder, he followed her gaze. There was Jean Luc talking with a blonde man with a thick, well-trimmed mustache. Natsu knew he looked familiar but waved that thought away. Turning back, he couldn't help but notice the haunted expression Lucy was wearing under her mask. "Lucy, he can't be your father. You're not from here."

She turned to him, her eyes wavering. "I know he's not my father, mine passed away." She stared back at the man with apprehension. "He must be this world's Lucy's father."

Natsu scrunched his face in thought. "This world's version of. . There is another you?"

Lucy frowned at him. "Well yeah! Didn't we talk about this?"

"No!"

Lucy cocked her head in thought before giggling. "Oh, I forgot, that was with Happy."

Natsu ran his hand through his hair. "How can you confuse talking to a cat to a conversation with me?"

Lucy shrugged, "I'm so used to talking to him, I suppose it was just natural." She turned her gaze back to the men. Lucy honestly couldn't decide if she should be excited to finally see her father after finding out he passed away, waiting to see her for seven long years, or fear him because he would still be the tyrant in this world who was bent on controlling her life.

Natsu let his gaze follow hers. "Why don't you go talk to him?"

She turned to Natsu chewing on her bottom lip. "I ran away from home for a good reason." Lucy shook her head. "Let's just avoid him for now and try to enjoy this party.

Natsu and Lucy jumped at hearing a familiar voice behind them. "Boyoyo! How are you both enjoying the party this evening?"

Lucy felt her gut twist in a repulsed response. She smiled sweetly to the Duke, dipping her head in a slight bow. "Your Grace, the party is lovely."

He eyed Lucy with interest, "Your mask is remarkable. . Lucy was it?" She felt her hand instinctively go up and touch one of the stars. "I myself am very fond of astronomy and find stars fascinating."

Natsu bowed to the Duke. "If you will excuse us, I have promised her a dance and we never finished our last one." He turned, stalking away, gripping Lucy's wrist. Lucy shifted her hand in his so she could give him a firm squeeze back. The dance they jumped into was one where they changed partners frequently. As the song ended, Lucy was disappointed to be dancing with someone else, and Natsu was nowhere in sight.

As Lucy turned to exit the dance floor, a firm grip on her wrist stopped her. She turned and looked into a tall man's eyes. His blue hair spilled over his mask teasingly, his smile all too familiar. Lucy was so distracted that she didn't notice him luring her onto the dance floor until it was too late.

"You are very familiar with these dances."

Lucy looked away, eyes going towards the crowd as she tried to nonchalantly scan for Natsu. "Aren't you supposed to know how to dance if you go to something like this?" Her voice pointedly asked. He smirked slyly, pulling her closer to him. She glared up at him, piercing through the flame mask, and into his dark eyes. "What are you doing here Bora?"

His grin widened, she knew he wore a cocky expression under the mask from his laugh. "I should ask you the same thing, little Miss Heartfilia."

Lucy's eyes widened. "How. . What?"

"Did you think that no one would have recognized you? It's understandable since your father prohibits you from getting your photo taken for the media; but think about Lucy." He leaned forward, his breath brushed across her stunned face. "You are at a party with many of the wealthiest families in Fiore." She felt his arm snake lower, his hand grazing to her thigh.

She stomped her heel into his foot. "Oh my apologies sir!" Many people stopped to stare at the man clutching his foot as he howled with pain. "I will find someone with ice." Lucy stated before precipitately drifting into the crowd of guests nearby; she frantically looked around for the mop of pink hair. _Where is Natsu? _She continued until she spotted Virgo nearby walking quickly out of the room. Lucy gave one last quick look around the room, noticing Bora had recovered and was searching for her. She swiftly slipped out of the room and followed the pink haired maid.

Virgo opened a door and froze in the doorway. Lucy rushed up behind her. "Virgo, I. ." Her brown eyes widened in shock at seeing Natsu in a brawl with two chefs. Natsu's pristine suit was now destroyed with stains and rips; he was holding a large pot of soup and was in the process of throwing the contents on his opponents. One of the chefs, the shorter of the two, that appeared to be bald except for the long, black braid going down his back, held out a large frying pan to block the soup from scorching him. The taller chef, a large man with black hair sticking out in 4 long spikes, ducked behind the counter. Lucy recognized them as the same body guards that the duke from her world hired, the Vanish Brothers.

Natsu turned and gave Lucy a surprised look. "Lucy, go get our things, we need to leave." Lucy nodded and took off away from the room, Virgo following close behind.

Lucy turned to the maid, "Virgo, is it possible for you to pack our things, I need to grab something from the library that I left." Virgo wordlessly nodded and continued to the rooms. Lucy turned and quickly continued towards the library, stopping outside of the double doors to look around before swiftly entering the room. She flipped the light switch and made her way over to the shelf, pulling the book from its place. She jumped at hearing that dreaded voice behind her.

"Boyoyo!" Lucy turned around and there stood Duke Everlue, one hand proudly on his hip, the other playing with his mustache. "What, may I ask, do you think you are doing with my book?"

Lucy stared back, running excuses through her head. "Well I saw that this was a Kemu Zaleon that I haven't read and since it's so late, and I'm exhausted, I was going to take this for the evening to read." His eyebrow shot up and Lucy felt her stomach twist. _He doesn't believe me, what do I do?"_

"Did you know that the book is about me?"

Lucy painted a surprised look on her face. "Oh really?" She stared down at the book in her hands. "You don't say."

The Duke took a step closer. "So Miss Heartfilia, are you interested in stories that pertain to me?"

Lucy took a step back. _How does HE know my last name?! _"Wh. . Wha. .?"

The Duke smirked at her dumbfounded expression. "Did you really think that the daughter of the wealthiest businessmen could go to a party and not be recognized by at least one person?" Lucy bite her bottom lip, and kept her eyes locked onto him, trying to determine how to get around him to the exit. _Does everyone here know who I am? _The Duke took a step towards her. "Did you know that your father has been looking at marrying you off? I know that he has been looking into having you become a duchess. Duke Sawarr was one of the choices, I am the other."

Lucy swallowed down the bile that she could feel building in her throat. She wasn't sure how convincing it was but she tried to maintain an aloof expression. "Oh?"

His smirk widened. "And to think, for us to be alone together in a room in my mansion. The scandal it would cause if we were caught, especially in a compromising position."

Lucy narrowed her eyes, unable to hold back the curtness of her tone. "Well, we shall make sure that won't happen then."

She started to briskly walk around him, watching him with wariness. He lunged snagging her wrist into his tight grip. "I would normally be repulsed by the idea of having someone so. . . UGLY as my wife, but the fortune that would accompany you would make up for the inconvenience." His dark sneer made her grimace in disgust; she pulled against his restraint. She was crushed to the floor with a pained groan as he twisted her arm in an unnatural angle. He leaned over her with a sadistic smirk. "I do like to tame wild maidens, and. ." She clenched her jaw holding back a whimper as he twisted her arm further. "I promise you that I will put you in your place."

Duke Everlue suddenly released Lucy with a pained howl. She scrambled to her feet and saw that Happy had attached himself to the Duke's face with a deep bite, scratching him with his small claws. Everlue yanked the cat off and threw him across the room. Lucy winced at seeing the small feline slam into the book case and crumbled to the floor. She glared at the Duke, her brown eyes filled with rage. She slipped a hand through the slit of her dress and pulled out her whip. Everlue's eyes widened in shock. "Where were you hiding that?"

She flicked her wrist and the whip extended next to her with a snap. She pressed her lips in a thin line, her eyes danced angrily. The Duke eyed her warily as he took a step towards her. She snapped the whip towards him, grazing his cheek. He let out an angry growl as he clutched cheek. She stepped sideways, making her way to the blue cat. Briefly taking her eyes off of the Duke, she bent down and gingerly picked up the blue cat. He let out a low yowl, moving his head to give her a pained look. Lucy ground her teeth and glowered at the Duke. "You bastard."

A smirk spread across his face as he rolled his mustache in his fingers. "Boyoyo. Was that your little kitty?"

Lucy furiously stomped up to the Duke and pulled back her arm to punch that _pompous cretin_ in the nose. Someone grabbed her elbow and pulled her back, throwing her to the floor. She glared up to the face of Bora.

He leaned over and ripped her mask off, casually tossing it behind him. Lucy hugged Happy close to her body, cringing at the Duke's laugh. "Boyoyoyo! You thought that you could overpower us?"

Bora smiled. "Everlue, if you don't mind, I'll take her down into the tunnels and teach her some lessons."

The Duke frowned at the lack of respect but nodded nonetheless. Bora yanked Lucy to her feet and began to pull her out of the room. She flicked her arm and tried to bring the whip up to slap Bora with it only for him to step on it. Lucy was caught off balance and stumbled back, letting go of her whip. She clutched Happy and the book protectively to her chest eyeing Bora in distaste. She slowly reached her hand down to grab her keys that were still hidden on her thigh, only to have the Duke lunge. She leapt away only for Bora to catch her. He ripped Happy from her hands and dropped him carelessly behind him. Lucy felt tears sting her eyes. She raised her leg to give Bora a kick and felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Bora pulled his fist back to catch Lucy as she collapsed to the floor, the wind knocked out of her. He quickly tied her wrists with her own whip and pulled her to her feet. "Now, let's try this again."

* * *

Natsu ran into their room, surprised to see the maid with pink hair staring back. "Uh, hi." She stared back with a blank face. Natsu looked around the room. "Where's Lucy?"

Virgo looked towards the door. "She said she needed to grab something from the library, she should have been back by now."

Natsu grit his teeth, rushing out of the room. Entering the library, he saw the Duke rolling his mustache, holding Day Break in his hands letting out a weird laugh. Natsu's green eyes scanned the room, disappointment filled him as Lucy was nowhere in sight. He spotted the small blue cat crumbled on the floor with Lucy's discarded mask next to him. He turned back to the Duke who was still unaware of his presence.

"Everlue!"

The duke turned, enraged by the disrespect. "I have a respected title and you should address me as such!"

Natsu's eyes flashed dangerously. "Where is she?"

Everlue raised his eyebrow. "Boyoyoyo! You mean the young lady? She is no longer your concern."

Natsu ground his teeth. "WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?"

A sickening smile spread across the Duke's face. "As I said, she is no longer your concern." He flipped open a cane he was holding a pressed down a button. Natsu tensed, waiting for an attack. After 30 agonizing seconds, the Duke started to panic, pressing the button several more times. "Where are those two?!"

The pink haired teen chuckled. "Oh, those two in the kitchen? Yea, I took care of them earlier." Natsu smiled widely seeing the fear in the Duke's eyes. "Now I'm only going to ask this one more time. ." He started to crack his knuckles menacingly. "Where is she?"

* * *

Lucy struggled against her restraints, cursing her picky tastes in good whips. Bora chuckled darkly. "I should be asking what a high class young lady is doing with a whip, but I suppose I don't even need to ask." He gave her a suggestive smirk and Lucy kicked his shin. He threw her against the wall. "You bitch!" She felt her head ram against the stone wall before she collapsed. He put his hand under her chin and raised her head so he could meet her defiant, brown eyes. She pulled away quickly, causing her pounding head to throb with renewed pain.

He lifted her back onto her feet and started to pull her in the same direction. "Where are we going?"

"Like hell I'm telling you. I'm not stupid."

Lucy stared at the floor. "You could have fooled me." He pushed her against the wall and started to issue threats. She slammed her forehead into his and he crashed to the ground. She stood wobbly, practically seeing stars, as she tried to compose herself. She gave her head a quick shake before heading towards the direction they came. She picked up her speed when she heard the footsteps behind her getting closer. She tripped, cursing the heels that she was wearing. She pulled harder against the whip as she rolled over onto her back. Bora was close now. Her right hand was finally free. She reached up the slip in her dress and pulled out her keys.

Bora stopped, wide eyed. "Where were you hiding those?"

Lucy held out a key. "Open, Gate of the Bull, Taurus!" Bora's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as a large bull appeared wielding a huge axe.

Taurus blew smoke out of his nostrils eyeing his enemy. "Is this man bothering you Miss LuuuUUuucy?"

"Yeah! Take him down Taurus!" The zodiac spirit smiled and stepped towards the man; Bora backed away from the spirit, his body shaking in fear. Lucy picked up her whip and started to untangle it. Once Lucy was able to use her whip again, she looked up to see Bora jump away from an axe swing and it suddenly dawned on her. "Taurus, just knock him out, don't kill him!"

Taurus turned to give an apologetic look to his master, but was distracted by the blonde. "Oh my, Miss Luuucy, you look amazing tonight."

She snapped her whip, eyeing Bora. "Focus Taurus." He slowly turned back to the man and twisted the handle in his hands. Bora looked between the two with a bewildered expression. He stumbled as his heel hung over the edge to the murky water below. He gave a quick glance over his shoulder before glaring at the two in front of him. Bora turned to jump until something caught his ankle; he fell forward, upper body crashing into the filthy water while Lucy's whip held him by the ankle. She grit her teeth, slowly pulling him out of the water. Bora coughed roughly, spitting up the sewer water. She strode over to him and kicked him, knocking him unconscious, before tying him up with her whip.

Lucy jumped at hearing another voice behind her. "Another spirit of yours?"

She turned and smiled at Natsu who was suspiciously eyeing the large bull spirit. "Yea, this is Taurus."

The spirit smiled at Natsu before turning back to his master. "So Miss Luuuucy, that's a fine outfit you have on this evening."

Lucy sighed before smiling to her spirit. "Thanks for helping Taurus, I'll see you around." With a small poof, the spirit disappeared.

Natsu turned to examine Bora. "Hmm, I guess you don't need any help then."

Lucy frowned. "Actually, I didn't get the book. Oh and Happy. ."

"He's fine, Virgo has him." Natsu turned to Lucy with a small smile. "And as for the book." He pulled the book out of his ruined suit and held it out to her. She took it with a small smile.

"What about Everlue?"

"My grandfather is taking care of him right now as we speak. I called him after I finished in the kitchen with those weirdo assassins the Duke hired." Natsu shook his head and turned back to Bora. "Let's get him upstairs and then we can head out." Natsu picked up Bora and turned to Lucy. "Is this a whip?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I always carry a whip and my keys."

He stared at her thoughtfully. "Where?" She tilted her head in confusion. "Where were you hiding them, and where did you get this whip from?"

Lucy laughed lightly, lifting the slit in the dress a bit higher and placing her keys in the strap. Natsu's eyebrow raised higher than Lucy has ever seen, maker her laugh more. "I actually bought that whip this week. I mentioned that I was interested in getting something to protect myself and Erza said she knew of the perfect store."

Natsu nodded his head slowly. "Of course she would. But why a whip?"

Lucy shrugged. "I've always used one to fight." Natsu continued to pull Bora behind him, shaking his head with a small laugh.

**I want to say sorry to everyone that it took me longer than I was hoping to post this. To be honest, life has been overwhelming between trying to get ready for next semester of school, I've been picking up more evening shifts for work and I'm watching my friend's daughter during the day of the summer. *Sigh* I'm running on E right now and am happy that I have finally finished this chapter. I'm going to try and work on this and my other story as much as possible. **

**I love you all and let me know what you think of the latest chapter. **


	12. Chapter 12

**As always, I want to start off by giving my appreciation to the people who reviewed this story. **

_OgaxHilda_

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_MoonlightLoveSong_

_Gothazon_

**Thank you for your continued support, it really makes all of the effort and time I put into this story worth it. I also want to thank all of the new and old followers, favorites and just people who happen to stalk the website and read this randomly. Thank you for reading this story, I know reading this long of a story takes time and dedication and I love you all for using such a precious thing as time to actually read my story. **

**Without further ado. . **

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 12 Happy's Dilemma**

**_Earthland~_**

Makarov nodded his head thoughtfully. "I see. Max, is there anything else that I need to know?" Max stared at his lap and shook his head. Makarov let out a sigh before walking over to the Fairy Tail member. "I want you to know that this doesn't change anything for you here." Max looked up into the master's blue eyes, his own filled with tears. "This information might be very helpful and I will let everyone know about it once Natsu and the others return."

Max stood up and gave a small bow. "Thank you Master." He wiped the tears from his eyes before turning and walking out of the room. Makarov watched him go with a small frown on his face. _I never would have expected that. _

He heard a knock and looked up to see Macao leaning against the door frame. "So, 6th Master, I'm guessing Max told you everything. . ?"

Makarov returned to his seat and looked over his desk to Macao. "Well, 4th Master, he said he told me as much as he could remember, and what a tale it was."

Macao nodded, closing the door behind him. He plopped into the nearest chair and stared at the old man. "Yes, besides you, me, and Mavis, Max hasn't told anyone."

Makarov raised an eyebrow. "Mavis knows?"

Macao nodded again, heaving a sigh. "Apparently during the Grand Magical Games she confronted him privately about his. . situation. Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you when you came back. I just. ."

"No, it's understandable. Every member deserves to have their privacy and personal secrets."

Macao clasped his hands in his lap. "What do we do now with that information?"

Makarov turned in his chair. "We will try to see how helpful it will be."

* * *

**_New World~_**

Lucy yawned and turned to Natsu. "How far away are we?"

He chuckled, pressing his gas pedal down farther to increase the speed. "Another hour maybe." She rubbed her eyes, and stared out the window with a bored expression. Natsu glanced over to her, taking how low her eyelids hung. "Tired still?"

"Well it's not like we got any sleep last night. After turning in the Duke to the authorities that showed up and answering the questions, we finally gave the book to the Melons."

Natsu shook his head. "How did you know they were the ones my Grandfather sent?"

Lucy turned, raising an eyebrow. "How do you think?"

"Right, experiencing everything a second time. Hmm. . . So, you should really go over more of that." Lucy gave him a pointed look, hoping he'd drop it for now. He chuckled and continued driving at his recklessly fast speed.

Lucy sat up and pointed ahead. "Hey, there's a truck pulled over on the side of the road. Didn't you say those lights mean they might need help." Natsu nodded, staring at the light blue truck with intensity; he could see Lucy in the corner of his eyes look over to him. "Let's pull over and see if they need help." He glanced at Lucy's bright face and hopeful expression and frowned.

"I was told to never stop or pick up strangers; you never know who they could be."

They were much closer to the truck now. Lucy bounced in her seat. "OH! Look, I think it's Gray's truck!" _Damn!_ "It is, look he's right there." Sure enough, Gray poked his head around the front hood to look at the upcoming car. Natsu gave another quick look to his blonde companion before giving in. _Even though Lucy said she looks sloppy today with her hair thrown up in a bun or whatever that style is, she has this sexy rumpled look that I can't quite explain. I was hoping to keep everyone else away from it, but that damn popsicle can't keep his car running. _

They pulled in front of Gray's truck and Lucy bounced out of the car. "Hey Gray!"

Gray was shocked at first to see Lucy, not only looking rather disheveled, but climbing out of Natsu's car. He gave a quizzical look towards his pink haired friend before smiling at the blonde. "Hey Lucy! What are you doing with this lame brain so early in the morning?" He looked in the direction they were coming from. "Actually, where were you both?"

Natsu cut in before Lucy could say anything. "We went out of town for the weekend." _Shit, why did I say that? _He gave a boyish grin to Lucy. "Right?" She smiled and gave a quick nod before turning back to Gray. _Oh, hmm. . That's why. She acts like they are really close and she met him all of 2 or 3 times. Pffftt. What kind of relationship did they have in her world? _Lucy and Gray both started to laugh, pulling Natsu back to the reality that he was clearing not listening to the conversation. He turned to Lucy who was now speaking.

"Yea, so poor Happy just needed to go to a specialist and I insisted on coming with Natsu since I just love little animals." _Ahhhh, good thing I started listening, that's actually a good lie. _

Gray nodded his head thoughtfully. "Well, he looks fine to me."

Lucy's smiled and rolled her eyes. "Well now, yeah!" She ruffled the fur of the small cat in her arms. "So Gray, what are you doing out here?"

Gray sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "I was visiting my Aunt for the weekend and on the way back, my car started to overheat." He stared irritably back to his vehicle. "I think it's the radiator."

Natsu chuckled. "Didn't that break like 6 months ago?"

Gray glowered. "Yes, yes it did."

Natsu shook his head and made his way over to the truck and took a look. Lucy set Happy down and leaned on her elbows watching the guys poke around under the truck's hood. Natsu finally shook his head and stared at his dark haired friend. "I think you need to get a new one."

Gray scratched his head. "New radiator?"

"Or a new car." Natsu turned his stare to the vehicle with a frown.

Gray turned and gave Natsu an unamused look. "Funny. You know I can't afford one." He grumbled as he unbuttoned his shirt casually.

Natsu ran his own hand through his pink locks, looking over to Lucy with exasperation. "Where's Happy?"

Lucy looked down at her feet where she last saw the blue feline, before walking back to Natsu's car. She got on her hands and knees and looked under the car. "Happy?!" She sat back and looked around the clearing. "HAPPY!" She frowned towards Natsu. "I don't see him."

Natsu stepped away from the truck, concern etching his face. "That's unlike him. HAPPY! C'mere Buddy!" Natsu walked over to Lucy and whispered. "Okay, not to be weird, but. . what happened next in your world?"

Lucy tucked her finger under her chin thoughtfully. Well, we met up with Gray on the way back to the guild, then. . Oh no." Her eyes grew wide and she gave Natsu a panicked look. "We need to find Happy!"

Natsu followed her as she ran into the woods away from the clearing. Gray yelled from his truck. "What's up man?"

Natsu shrugged. "I don't know, I'm going to follow her." Gray threw the shirt in his hands on the ground and followed his pink haired friend. Soon Natsu and Gray found Lucy walking slowly; before they could call out to her she turned abruptly and held her finger up to her lips to silently shush them. She cuffed a hand behind her hear to signal the guys that they should listen. Natsu heard what sounded like a rowdy group of boisterous campers. "Lucy, what does. .?" She continued walking slowly, peaking through a nearby bush; Lucy turned and gave Natsu a worried glance. Natsu peered through the parted leaves and saw the odd scene in front of him.

A group of guys, who were all clearly drinking, were gathered around a campfire arguing. Natsu saw identical twins, a large red headed lad in overalls facing away from him, and another man with darker hair playing with a deck of cards. Natsu let out a sigh before turning to Lucy and took in her calculating expression. She noticed him out of the corner of her eye and turned to face him. "Keep watching." Natsu shrugged and turned his attention back to the group. A short, balding man walked into the group. "Oh nice, you did catch it, I guess we are going to eat nice tonight."

The large fellow in the overalls with the red hair yelled "MEAT!" as he held up a stick with a small blue cat tied to it.

Natsu's eyes grew large and he jumped through the bushes. "HAPPY!" The group turned and glared at the newcomer. "Give me my cat." The large guy in the overalls set Happy over the fire; the unfortunate cat yowled pleadingly. Lucy appeared next to Natsu, soon followed by Gray. Natsu turned to Lucy. "Save Happy, Gray and I can take care of the guys."

Lucy hesitantly nodded as Natsu and Gray charged the group.

Lucy picked up the stick and set it on the ground, giving Happy a small pat to reassure him. She frowned when she felt how hot his fur already was and felt angry tears beginning to blur her vision when the smell of burned hair reached her nose. She swallowed down her anger and cooed gently to the cat. "Awe, everything is going to be okay now Happy." She made quick work of the ropes and soon had the cat in her hands. Brushing her hands over his fur, she felt singed hair along his back. She heard someone behind her and turned sharply to see the large, redheaded man looming over her.

* * *

Natsu gave his opponent a punch knocking him down. Smirking, he glanced over his shoulder to see what the other two were doing. Gray was just finishing his opponent and Lucy was standing, holding Happy in her arms. Natsu's eyes widened; behind Lucy one of the guys staggered with a wicked grin on his face. Before Natsu could take a step, a kick landed to his gut knocking the wind out of him momentarily. He dodged another hit, worriedly looking back to the blonde. He felt a tinge of jealousy at seeing Gray race towards Lucy, not being the one to protect her. Lucy turned, rounding on the man, and kicked him in the face. Gray halted in his footsteps, clearly surprised, while Natsu felt a smug smirk twitch across his face.

She turned facing the guy Gray was recently fighting who just got to his feet. Her brown eyes flashed with fury as she grabbed the front of his shirt and growled. "You barbarians!" She tossed him aside, picked up a bottle of alcohol and stormed over to Natsu's opponent. The bottle crashed against the man's head, spilling the alcohol everywhere. Natsu and Gray used some rope from the camping site and tied the men to a large tree.

Natsu sighed, running his hand through his pink hair. "What the hell guys?" One of the men, the one who seemed the most sober started to mumbled. "What?" Natsu crouched next to the man.

"We needed to leave. Can't be a part. . ."

Gray gave Natsu a quizzical look. "Can't be a part of what?"

Natsu shrugged and let the man continue. "Lul. . Lullaby."

Natsu scrunched his face. "Lullaby?" He turned to Gray who shrugged before turning to Lucy. Her eyes were wide and her face paled. _That's probably not good. _"Luce, have you ever heard of Lullaby?"

Her gaze jumped to Natsu and she bit her bottom lip nervously. _That confirms that this isn't going to be good. Great! _

Natsu stood and stepped back from the men. "Well, what do we do with these men?"

Gray shrugged, "We should just leave them, they'll figure something out."

Natsu turned and looked over to Lucy. She was scanning the forest around them nervously. "Hey Lucy, is everything alright?"

Something caught Lucy's eye and she tackled Natsu to the ground. He widened his eyes in surprise, "Wh. . What was that for?"

Lucy scrambled, pulling Natsu along with her. "Gray, take cover!"

Once they were leaning against a tree, Natsu noticed Lucy was wielding one of her keys with a serious expression. "What's going on."

She motioned towards the tree and Natsu froze. All five of the men were dead, bullet holes through their heads. Natsu leaned forward to get a better view and Lucy held her hand up to stop him. "There's a sniper somewhere." Natsu tensed and stared at her.

Gray's voice could be heard from another nearby tree. "Guys, what's going on?"

Natsu frowned in his direction. "There's a sniper somewhere nearby, I think they were after those men we caught."

"Holy shit! They're dead?!" Before Natsu could answer, a chunk of the tree was torn off by a whizzing bullet.

Lucy held out her key and whispered, "Open gate of the archer, Saggitarius." That familiar chime sound came and soon a man dressed in an awkward horse outfit appeared. Natsu's jaw dropped.

"What the hell was that noise?" Natsu heard Gray yell.

"Stay put unless you want to get shot!"

"Howdie do my lady?" The horse man said, saluting to the blonde. Natsu turned and gave Lucy a perplexed stare; she ignored Natsu and requested Sagittarius to take care of the sniper. The horse-man peeked around the tree briefly before pulling back in time to miss a bullet shot. He drew an arrow and took a deep breathe; Sagittarius bent around the tree and shot expertly at an opponent. He ducked back, only his horse ear getting nipped by a bullet.

Lucy reached up and took his ear in her hand. "Are you okay?"

"Oh yes, my lady!" He peered out from the tree and turned back to the two. "Your attacker is gone, I believe I hit him in the shoulder."

Lucy gave her spirit a thumbs up. "Great job Sagittarius!" With a poof the spirit disappeared. Lucy peered around the tree herself and was pleased that the shooter was indeed gone. Gray, the coast is clear!"

"How are you so sure?" They heard him yell back.

Natsu grimly stared over to the tree where the men were tied up. "We will need to report this."

Lucy followed his gaze and sighed. "Yeah."

Lucy made her way to Gray's hiding tree. "KYA!"

Natsu whipped his head in her direction. "What's wrong?" He ran over to her and looked behind the tree. "Dammit Gray! Put some clothes on!"

Gray stared down at himself and yelped. "When did that happen?"

Natsu growled and turned to Lucy who had turned to face away from the dark haired friend, her cheeks ablaze. Natsu couldn't help but chuckle before looking down at the small blue cat still in Lucy's hands. " I never did get the chance to ask how Happy is doing."

Lucy held him out with a soft smile. "Just needs a bath and possibly a haircut."

Natsu pick up Happy and ran his fingers through the blue fur, frowning at feeling the rough patches where his fur had been burned. He hesitantly looked back over to the men near the tree. _Even though I can't forgive what they've done and what they were going to do to Happy, I don't feel like they deserved that. _Gray let out a sigh behind him. "I'm decent now; although, I can't find my shirt." He was looking around the area with a frown.

Lucy giggled. "You took it off near your truck."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Why do YOU remember that?" Natsu gave her a quick look, hiding his curiosity. _WHY do YOU remember that? _

Natsu threw a goofy smile on her face. "Probably because she was so disgusted that a weirdo popsicle like you was stripping in front of her."

Gray growled and stepped closer to his pink haired friend. "What'd you say flame brain?"

Natsu crossed his arms childishly and turned away. "You heard me!"

Lucy shook her head, trying to get the amusement out of her head. _Not now! We have to take care of this issue! _"Guys!" They both turned and faced her curiously. "Natsu right about what he said earlier. . We need to report this."

Gray and Natsu nodded slowly and before long, Gray was on the phone with the police, recounting all of the details. They waited near their vehicles for the squad cars to appear, Gray happily found his dirtied shirt and put it on during their wait. They directed the police to the tree where the bodies were last only to find them gone. The police took hours questioning the three, taking hair samples from Happy, and photos of the entire area. The bullet holes in the trees and the blood on the ground gave the police something to work with and they finally dismiss the three teens after getting their contact information.

Gray grumbled as he dumped another bottle of water into his radiator. "It's almost dinner time." Natsu yawned with a bored expression.

"Let's go to Fairy Tail Tavern when we get back in town!"

The two guys glanced over to Lucy with their eyebrows raised. Natsu leaned his head on his propped up hand. "You're not tired of that place yet?"

Gray frowned. "How often do you go there?"

Lucy giggled. "I'm working there!"

Gray smirked. "Is that right?"

Nastu glared over to Gray, not enjoying the direction of this conversation. "Hey, Frostbite!" Gray turned his blue eyes to Natsu. "You gotta hurry up, with a hole in your radiator like that you can't just sit around talking, it'll all just spill out."

Gray grumbled some comeback as he closed his hood and climbed into his truck. He took off driving with Natsu and Lucy following in Natsu's car. After stopping at a gas station to put more water in the radiator, Gray came up to Natsu and Lucy. "So what do you both think? Want to go to Fairy Tail Tavern? I haven't been there yet."

"Sounds great to me!" She turned to Natsu. "What do you think?"

"I don't know. ." Natsu frowned over to the once again shirtless Gray. _He's just going to be hitting on Lucy all night. _

"We can just go without that asshat, I don't care if it's just the two of us Lucy." Gray gave Lucy a charming smile. Natsu ground his teeth, frustration bubbling. "You could just ride with me!"

Natsu pat his stomach. "You know what?! I think I am hungry. I haven't eaten anything since breakfast since we spent the whole afternoon helping this idiot."

Gray stared challengingly at Natsu. "What'd you call me bubblegum head?"

"You heard me ice freak, I called you an idiot."

"I guess it's settled then, let's go get dinner!" Lucy bounced back to Natsu's car leaving the two in a staring contest. "Hurry up guys!" Soon they arrived back in town and headed towards the tavern. Lucy was the first to enter the building giving a large smile to the hostess. "Hi Mira! Geez, do you work everyday?"

Mira waved her hand with a light laugh. "What are you doing here on your day off?"

"Oh well I was just hanging out with Natsu and Gray and. ."

"You were?!" Her blue eyes flashed mischievously. What were you all doing?" Her eyes landed on the boys as a playful smile spread across her lips.

Lucy shook her head with a laugh. "Well, cutting the story short, we were wondering if we could eat here."

Mira looked slightly disappointed as her eyes roamed over the three, taking in their disheveled appearances and tired eyes. "Yea, actually we are a little slow right now." She picked up three menus and glanced at the small blue cat in Natsu's hands. "Natsu, you realize you aren't supposed to bring animals in here right?"

"Awe, c'mon Mira! Happy's had a really bad day and I wanted to get him a fish dinner!"

Lucy looked around the tavern. "You did say it was slow!"

Mira gave in and led them to a corner booth. Lucy slid into her seat and soon had Natsu and Gray on either side of her, Menus up to avoid looking at each other. Mira smiled at the group. "Your server will be with you shortly."

"Who is our server tonight?" Lucy curiously asked.

Mira raised an eyebrow, eyeing the guys once again. "Erza."

Natsu and Gray visibly tensed; Lucy bit back her chuckle as she watched the hostess leave.

Erza soon appeared. "Hello, welcome to Fairy Tail Taven, I'm your server Erza and. . oh. . What are you all doing here?" She looked at them with disbelief.

"We are here to eat some dinner." Lucy smiled back.

Erza raised her eyebrow, looking between the boys. "These two are on good terms?"

Natsu and Gray plastered overly happy expressions. "Aye!" Lucy stared incredulously at Natsu. _ Hmmm. . I guess it was a habit that Happy must have picked up from him since he was the one who raised him. _

Lucy shook her head and giggled. "Well I'm ready to order."

Gray looked over to her and frowned. "Well yea, I suppose you would know what you want, you've memorized the menu right?" She nodded with a pleased smirk.

Natsu stared at his menu intently. "I'll take the chicken wings, extra hot. Pepperoni pizza with jalapenos and chili peppers." He paused and looked down to the seat next to him. "And tuna, raw please." Erza leaned forward with a frown, before she could scold him Natsu informed her. "Mira said it was fine." Erza gave him a disproving stare before turning to Lucy.

She smiled. "I'll have a chicken caesar salad."

Gray continued to stare at his menu indecisively. He glanced up and met Erza's impatient gaze. Gulping, he quickly ordered a burger and fries with a side of ranch. Erza quickly made her way back to the kitchen after collecting the menus. Gray turned and stared at Lucy thoughtfully. "What days are you working?"

Lucy grabbed her phone started to swipe the screen. "Looks like this week is. . Monday through Friday again. 9:00 am until. . 3:00pm."

Gray nodded, "That's not too bad."

Lucy sighed. "Yeah, well I come in early and stay late whenever they ask me to, like last week I worked Wednesday 7:00am until 6:00pm."

"Oh wow." Natsu stayed quiet listening to their conversation, staring at his hands. He held back a frown as he heard Gray continue. "So, what do you plan on doing this weekend?"

Before Lucy could respond, Natsu jumped into the conversation. "Lucy's going to be doing some volunteer work with me."

Gray raised his eyebrow at his pink haired friend before turning back to the blonde. "So you're going to be hanging with this idiot over here on your day off?"

"HEY!" Natsu growled across the table.

Lucy chuckled. "Yea, he's fun and it sounded interesting."

Gray scoffed. "I don't see how hanging with this crazy pyromaniac could be fun!"

Lucy leaned forward. "Pyromaniac? What got him that nickname?"

Gray smiled wickedly to Natsu. "This idiot was trying to show me up in the chemistry lab and mixed a few chemicals he shouldn't have. Let's just say the school was lucky the building didn't burn down."

Natsu crossed his arms and looked away, huffing out, "It's not like anyone got hurt!"

Gray tilted his head, his blue eyes scrutinized his rose haired friend. "Well you did walk away with that nice little scar."

Lucy looked over to Natsu's neck and nodded thoughtfully, taking in the story with amusement. _Well, at least it wasn't a Natsu from a futuristic dimension hurting himself this time. _"Erza soon brought out the meals and sighed looking around the room. "Well you guys are my last table."

Natsu stared at her with a frown. "What, are you going to rush us out cause you want to go home?"

Erza sighed to herself before sitting down next to Natsu, causing him to scoot away from the redhead and closer to Lucy. "I'm not entirely in a rush to leave, the excitement of starting classes tomorrow morning will probably keep me up most of the night." She turned and faced the rest of the table. "What about all of you? What are you doing tonight?"

Lucy nodded. "Just going to home, I am tired after a busy weekend."

Gray frowned at the others. "Just going home?"

Natsu poked the food around his plate. "Well, school starts tomorrow so I figured it would probably be better to just get ready." Erza and Gray stared open mouthed at him. "What?"

"Well, it's not that you've ever been bad at school, it's just. . you've never been this . . motivated. ."

Gray nodded in agreement. Natsu huffed, avoiding eye contact with Lucy. "Yea, well if I want to get into the program I'm aiming for, I need to do better in school."

Soon they finished eating and bid their goodbyes to Erza and Mira. Once outside, Gray turned to Lucy. "Need a ride home?"

"Oh no, it's fine." She gave him a sweet smile. "I left a few of my things in Natsu's car so he was just going to take me. Thanks though!"

Gray nodded and gave a small wave before walking to his truck.

The drive home was quiet as Lucy ruffled Happy's fur gently. Once home, Lucy and Natsu worked together giving the stubborn cat a bath which easily soaked both of them.

Lucy stretched and turned to face Natsu, who was watching her thoughtfully. "So what other spirits do you have?"

Lucy touched her belt with a smile. "Well you've already met Virgo, Leo, and Cancer."

"And your big bull guy."

Lucy nodded in response. "Want to meet another?" He shrugged, a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth from her enthusiasm. She pulled out a key and Natsu couldn't help but notice her large smile. "Open gate of the Canis Minor, Nikola" Natsu watched in amazement as the familiar chime rang and frowned when a small white creature appeared with an orange cone nose.

He gave Lucy a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, I think you're losing your touch."

She glared at him. "He's always like this!" She turned to the small spirit and got down on her knees. "Come here Plue!" Lucy cooed to the small 'dog'. Natsu wore a boyish grin watching her cuddle the small spirit to her chest. "I missed you!"

"Pun Puuun!"

Happy scampered out of Natsu's lap and investigated his new friend. Plue jumped out of Lucy's grasp and did a little dance for Happy and Natsu. Natsu's grin widened as he watched the little 'dog' and gave him a thumbs up. "That was great little buddy!" Plue gave a wink and a thumbs up in response. Natsu chuckled and gazed over to Lucy. " SO Plue is his name?"

Lucy's proudly jutted her chin in the air wearing a proud smile. "Yep! I named him that! Isn't it the cutest?"

Natsu leaned forward, "He sure is interesting."

She smirked knowingly. "Yea, he and Happy get along so well in my world, I feel like it would be almost cruel to not introduce him here."

Plue sat next to Happy and started to 'talk' to him with his little puuns; Happy seemed to understand and would meow and purr in response. Natsu and Lucy sat, enjoying the quiet evening with each other. Lucy let out a large yawn, spiking Natsu's attention. "You should go to bed." He looked down thoughtfully to the spirit. "Is it good to keep him out for so long?"

Lucy glance sleepily over to Plue. "Yea, he doesn't take up much magic energy, sometimes I keep him out for a few days back home, that is if he wants to stay that long."

Plue slowly walked over to Lucy and climbed into her lap, giving her a hug. "Pun Puuun Pun Pun."

She rubbed his head lovingly. "I know you love being out." She let out another yawn. "I'm going to head to bed so it's up to you if you want to stay." He let out another "Puun" before waving to Natsu and Happy; Plue disappeared with a soft poof.

**I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter, I kinda wanna hear some guesses on what's going on with Max, I've had it planned since like the second chapter so I'm totally stoked that I was able to finally include part of that into the story. **

**I'm going out of town for another week soon. *Sigh* This has seriously been the busiest summer I've had in several years. I'm going to leave a few amazing story recommendations for you all to check out while I'm gone.**

**Secret Lovers **by** amehanaa **This one is a wonderful NaLu, 61 chapters. I follow this author because another amazing story** Love At First Site** (also complete little NaLu story, 26 chapters) and **Living With Him** (not complete but going strong, also NaLu).

**Texting Fire **by** MissyPlatina **This is one amazing NaLu story, 34 chapters long. I actually follow several of the stories this amazing writer posts, one would be **Virtual Flames **(which is honestly part of the reason I just got a tumblr this past week, once I figure out how to function on that site, I'll post my tumblr page information), another which I've been following on tumblr is **The Horrors of Summer Camp**.

**I promise I had a GaLe story that I was going to add on here but for the life of me I couldn't find it. *sigh* next time I'll tell you guys. **

**Until next time my lovely readers! **


	13. Chapter 13

**I want to start off thanking all of my amazing reader out there! Here's a little shout out to those that reviewed this past chapter. **

_**12Rayne**_

_**MoonlightLoveSong**_

_**Ayrmed**_

_**FutureMageOtaku99**_

_**dark queen of awesomeness**_

_**kisstheskyx**_

_**Pari forever ft**_

_**Gothazon**_

_**Johnny Spectre**_

_**xhearthemusic**_

**And a thank you to the _Guest_ that also commented. I reply with a =)**

**Thank you to everyone that has added this story as a favorite and has started to follow it as well. **

* * *

***Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.***

**CHAPTER 13**

**_Earthland~_**

Happy soared through the air, frantically looking for the familiar pink head of hair through the darkening forest. "Natsuuuuu!" His black eyes darted around anxiously. "Natsu!" As he came to a clearing, he let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness! I was so worried!" He flew over and landed several feet in front of the dragon slayer. Natsu continued to stomp his way through the forest, walking right past Happy. "Hey!" Happy flew in the air and stopped right in his friend's face this time, halting his angry trek. "Natsu, I know you're angry, we all are frustrated right now."

Natsu looked at the sky before letting out a sigh. "One day."

Happy momentarily wavered. "One day?"

Natsu's olive green eyes met his black eyes. "One full day since she's been gone!" Happy looked up with surprise. "It already feels like it's been longer than a day, and for her. . For her it's been what. . 2, 3 weeks now?!"

Tears sprung into Happy's eyes. "N. . Natsu. ."

"How much time will pass for her before we can save her?"

Happy brought his small paws to his face. "What if. . What if we aren't able to. ."

"No!" Happy jumped at his words. "No, I know we will; I'm just worried, I hope she's safe." Natsu turned to Happy. "We will need to head back towards the guild."

"AYE SIR!" Happy picked up Natsu and they flew off towards the town. As the town came within view, Natsu told Happy to keep flying since the train wouldn't be leaving for several more hours. They continued to fly towards Magnolia.

* * *

**_New World~_**

Lucy stalked out of the bathroom with a loud groan of annoyance, the front of her shirt completely soaked; Natsu chuckled as he tied his shoes. "I told you it wasn't going to be easy."

Lucy stormed into her room, slamming the door shut. Natsu looked over to the fluffy blue cat and shook his head. "Did you have to give her such a hard time? She was just trying to clean you up." Happy started to lick his paw as if he was unaware that someone was scolding him. Natsu sighed and grabbed his bag, stopping at the door. "C'mon Luce! If you don't hurry, we are going to be late!"

Her door flew open and she walked out with an apologetic smile. "Sorry I just needed to change my shirt."

He dropped her off at the tavern before making his way to class. Gray came in and plopped ungracefully in the chair next to him. "What's up ice breath?" Natsu said, not even looking at his friend.

Gray scoffed, "You're spunky this morning." Natsu shrugged and looked around the room, his eyes landing on a familiar orange haired friend. Gray followed his gaze. "It's good to see some of our friends we went to high school with."

Natsu nodded in reply. "Yea, and meet some new ones while we are at it."

Gray gave Natsu a curious look. "Speaking of new people, that Lucy girl. ." Natsu instinctively tensed up. "You haven't really said all too much on how you guys met."

"I helped her with a few things."

Gray's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What type of things?"

Natsu turned, glaring at his friend. "The kind that is her business, not something that I should go around sharing with people."

Loke took that moment to sit down next to Gray. "Oh hey Natsu, I didn't know you were going to be in this class." Natsu nodded and gave a small greeting to Loke, internally wondering what his connection to the Lucy of this world could be.

At the end of class, Gray turned to Natsu. "What are you doing later for lunch?"

Natsu shrugged lightly, "Probably heading to Fairy Tail Tavern."

Gray smirked, "Oh yeah, Lucy is working this afternoon."

Loke raised his eyebrow curiously. "Who's Lucy?"

Gray and Natsu stared blankly at him before Gray shook his head. "Geez man, you only have girls on your mind."

Loke laughed. "What can I say, I am a man of love. So who is this Lucy chick?"

Natsu watched Gray walk off with Loke, hearing him describe some of his blonde friend's characteristics to that womanizer. He slowly made his way to his other classes of the morning, internally cheering when he finally had a few hours of break to take his lunch.

As he rushed into the tavern, he instantly spotted Lucy serving lunch to some of her regulars. He eyed the room, spotting Cana at the bar and Mira serving a few meals out to other customers. Natsu took his seat in a booth and grabbed the menu, casually looking it over.

"Hey Natsu!"

He looked up into her bright, chocolate brown eyes and smiled back. "Hey, Lucy! How's work today?"

She shrugged lightly and looked around. "It's busier than Mira thought, but still slow compared to last week. Oh there's Gray." Gray soon approached the booth, sliding in across from Natsu.

"Hey Lucy!"

"Gray, how's your day going?"

He opened the menu the blonde handed him, glancing over the pages casually. "Eh, it was alright."

Mira called the blonde back to the counter and she left the two guys alone to glare at each other. "Where's Loke?"

Gray shifted in his seat. "Stopped by some of his 'fan girls'."

Natsu nodded and looked over to the entrance. "Oh, there he is now. "

Gray and Natsu watched his walk in and scan the room, finally spotting them and gave a short wave. As he made his way over to their booth, Lucy returned to the table. "Okay, did you guys decide what you wanted to eat and drink yet?"

Natsu and Gray's eye were large, knowing what Loke tends to do. Sure enough, Loke leaned against the booth and adjusted his glasses; a relaxed smirk danced across his lips. "Hey there, Gorgeous. I know that we haven't met but. ." Lucy looked over to him, her brown eyes wide. Loke shot a few feet in the air with a rather unmanly "KYA!" Gray's jaw dropped and Natsu raised his eyebrow, watching with interest. _I wondered what their relationship would be in this world. _Loke pointed at Lucy's surprised face and inaudibly stuttered out something that everyone assumed were words.

"Hey man, you okay?" Gray stood up and put his hand on Loke's shoulder, causing him to jump, looking frantically at Gray before returning his stare towards Lucy. Gray turned to Lucy. "Lucy, do you both know each other?"

Loke adjusted his glasses, eyes never leaving Lucy's brown orbs. "No." He turned to Gray, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "She just looked like someone I used to know." Natsu wasn't convinced and looked expectantly over to Lucy who curiously watched Loke shrug off the last minute as if it never happened. Loke turned to Lucy. "So. . Lucy was it?" She nodded slowly, gauging his reaction. "Gray here has told me quite a bit, but not everything. How'd you come to a town like Magnolia?" Natsu leaned forward, watching Loke. _This is the first time I've ever seen him keep his distance from a girl like this. _

Lucy shrugged, "Oh, ya know, just looking for a place to restart my life."

"Yeah!" Gray smirked. "Lucy came from a different country."

Loke raised his eye brow, looking over to Gray. "Did she now?" Natsu tried to not frown as he stared at Gray's friend. _Who the hell is he?! He acts like he knows her and is getting some cover story. . OH! Wait a minute. . How the hell does he know this world's Lucy and I don't? More importantly, why is he covering for her without question?_

Lucy shifted, laughing nervously. "Yeah, Natsu here has helped me so much, even getting me this job."

"Nah, I just recommended you to apply, Mira wouldn't have hired you if she didn't think you were capable."

Mira appeared out of nowhere. "Lucy, you didn't think you got the job because of Natsu did you?"

Lucy blushed. "I. . I don't know."

Mira shook her head, before turning to Loke. "So Loke, what was that squeal I heard earlier?" Her blue eyes dissected him, screaming at him to give the gossip to her ears. He shrugged, muttering something about thinking she was someone else.

Mira glanced quickly over to Lucy before frowning and wandering off to another table.

Natsu watched as Gray and Loke slid across from him in the booth. Lucy grabbed her pen and paper and held it up. "W. . Well, does everyone know what they want?"

Natsu shrugged. "I'll take a medium pizza, make it pepperoni and jalapenos with chili flakes. And an order of wings, the spiciest sauce you've got. To Drink, I'll take a coke." He handed his menu over to Lucy and turned to the others. Loke was staring quizzically over Lucy, assessing her cautiously. Natsu didn't catch what Gray ordered and suddenly it was Loke's turn.

Without once opening his menu, he held it out for her to take. "I'll have the chicken parmesan sub with a side garden salad instead of the fries. Just water for me to drink."

Lucy took the menu and finished scribbling down her notes. She gave everyone at the table a cheery smile. "Alright, your orders will be out soon!" She turned and hurried off to the kitchen.

Gray turned to Loke. "Seriously man, what the hell was that?"

Loke turned to look at him and Natsu before shrugging again. "It was a mistake, my bad."

Gray looked skeptical, but dropped the case. Natsu pulled out his phone and sent Lucy a text.

_What the hell do you think that was all about?_

She replied almost instantly. _I have no Idea._

Natsu looked up and saw Gray and Loke staring at him expectantly. "Sorry, what?"

Gray scoffed. "Loke asked you a question. Geez, put your phone away it's rude to be on them when hanging out with friends."

"Dude, it's fine!" Loke turned to Natsu. "I was just wondering, how long you've known Lucy for?"

Natsu looked between the two and shrugged. "A few weeks now I suppose."

Loke stared at Natsu, making him suddenly uneasy. "Hmm, okay."

Lucy returned with everyone's drinks, scooting Natsu over to sit down. "So how's everyone's first day in school?"

Natsu groaned. "I already have a ton of homework. I thought the first day they are just supposed to sit you down, tell you what to expect of the class and give you a syllabus."

Lucy giggled. "Well, what better way to show you what to expect than diving right in?"

"Yea, stop complaining and just suck it up. It's just a little homework."

Natsu ground his teeth. "I never said I couldn't handle it, I just said I wasn't expecting it."

Gray scoffed. "I doubt you will finish it all before tomorrow morning."

"I'll finish all of mine before you even have to chance to finish one of yours!"

The bubbly laughter from the blonde halted the argument as everyone looked over towards her. She just shook her head with a smile. "Sorry, just arguing over homework. I never thought I'd hear that one!" She abruptly stood and said she'd be back in a bit, another group of people came in.

Lunch was over almost as quickly as it began and Natsu found himself walking back to class. He felt his phone vibrate and saw it was a picture text from Lucy. _You left your book._ _Crap! I have that class next! _He turned and made his way back to the tavern. He came in through the employee door and stopped hearing a conversation between two familiar voices.

"Loke, what are you doing in the kitchen, this is an employee only area!" Lucy looked around in a panic hoping Mira didn't come in.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, ignoring her question.

"I'm working, starting a new life; just like I told you before!"

"How'd you leave?" Lucy stared at him, not knowing how to respond. Loke earnestly stared into her eyes. "I know how it was for you there, and last time I spoke with Aries, she said that they hadn't heard from you in over a month. All of the other servants are worried."

Lucy bit her lip. "I saw Virgo this past weekend."

Loke was stunned. "What? Where? Did you go back?"

Lucy shook her head. "N. . No, I. . Well. . It's a bit of a long story." She stared at him, cautious of what to say.

He frowned. "Lucy, I'm sorry. Really! I . . didn't just mean to leave like I did. I know it just wasn't the same hearing it from Aries and Virgo. I swear I tried writing you letters, heck I tried writing everyone letters. I was finally able to meet with Aries and she told me no one had heard from me in such a long time and everyone was worried." He grabbed her hands. "I am sorry. I know it must have been hard for you to leave."

Lucy nodded slowly, taking all of the information in. "Look, it's fine."

"How are you doing now?"

"Really, I'm fine!"

Loke watched her carefully. "Okay, just. . here." He held a slip of paper out towards her. "Take my number in case you need anything." Lucy took the paper with a soft thanks. Loke turned and rushed out of the kitchen towards Natsu. He ducked into the open office and hid behind the door until he heard the click alerting him that Loke left.

Natsu slipped out of the office and saw Lucy standing in the kitchen, holding the small slip of paper. "Hey Luce!"

She jumped, dropping the paper. "Oh, hi Natsu." He picked it up and stared down at the writing, frowning at the words, 'with love'. He handed the paper back to Lucy who looked at it before folding it and sliding it in her pocket. "Loke came by and wanted to talk."

Natsu nodded, unsure of how to respond. "So. . you said you had my book?"

"OH!" She turned and hurried out of the room and returned with the book. "Here."

"Thanks." Natsu stuffed it in his bag. "So, what did Loke want to talk about?"

Lucy sighed. "I'm not entirely sure. It sounds like all of my spirits work for my family. Or . . worked for my family at some point. I dunno. I think he might ask again how I left, but. . I don't entirely understand how things work here."

Natsu nodded, "And your Loke wouldn't know?"

Lucy tilted her head. "How would he? He's not from this world. It's just like I don't know much about this Lucy, and you don't know much about my Natsu." _Ouch! Hearing that I'm not 'her Natsu' kinda hurts. _

He turned, heading towards the door. "Okay, well I gotta head to class. Have a fun day at work!"

"Don't fall asleep in class!" He left with a wave of his hand, shaking his head.

The rest of his day went by in a flash. Natsu looked over at the clock with a groan realizing he didn't listen at all in his last class, everything that happened on his lunch break swam through his head. From Loke's reaction to his private conversation with Lucy.

Natsu's car pulled up to Fairy Tail and he stared at the entrance, waiting to see a familiar blonde. After 5 minutes of waiting, he walked through the entrance and scanned the room. "Hi Natsu." Mira chimed from the hostess stand.

"Hey." He frowned. "Have you seen Lucy? I was supposed to give her a ride home today."

Mira's smile deepened. "She's back in the break room." She nodded towards the back. "Go ahead."

He nodded and quickly made his way over to the room; once inside, he instantly spotted her sitting in a large chair writing in a journal. He peered over her shoulder curiously and saw the pages were filled with words. "Wow Luce, what is all of that?"

She jumped with a squeal, clutching the notebook to her chest. Her large brown eyes accusingly glared into his. "What. . I . . What are you doing in here?"

"You were taking too long so I asked Mira where you were." He glanced back to the notebook. "What is that?"

Lucy's eyes didn't leave his face; he could see her debating something. "This. . This is. . Well. ." She sighed, finally looking down at the notebook as she closed it. "This is a book I'm writing."

Natsu's eyebrow shot up. "You're writing a book?"

"Well, back in my world I was an aspiring writer, and I wrote several unpublished stories." Natsu nodded, curious of this admittance. "This. . This is actually something different that I started years ago. I'm rewriting it."

Natsu frowned. "Rewriting it?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I don't want to forget. I mean I don't think I ever will, but. ." Natsu slowly reached out and plucked the book from her hands, before slowly opening it; Lucy watched his face for his reaction.

_Lucy stormed out of the shop with frustration. "I can't believe he only knocked off 1,000 jewel for that!" Her thoughts were redirected when she heard several girls squeal in excitement that the famous Salamander was in town. Lucy could feel her excitement bubble over. THE SALAMANDER! _

Natsu glanced up at Lucy questioningly before returning to the page, skipping several paragraphs.

_Lucy felt her heart hammering in her chest, this feeling was overwhelming her senses. She felt herself edging closer to the man, his every movement making her heart want to leap out of her chest. She was almost an arm length away when she heard a new voice yell out from the crowd. _

_"Igneel! Igneel!" She looked over as a pink haired youth, close to her own age, pushed his way through the mob of girls with a blue haired cat at his heels. He stopped and stared at the man in front of him. Lucy felt the snap of magic breaking as the spell receded. "Who are you?" the pink haired man asked, disappointment written all over his face. _

_The man smirked, his magical rings glistening. "You may know me as, Salamander!" The pink haired boy already left the crowd, slumped in defeat as he stumbled along the sidewalk. _

Natsu stared up at Lucy, her face twisted with anxiety and guilt. "Is this. . ?

She nodded. "That's the start of my adventure with Fairy Tail." Natsu flipped through the pages, surprised at how much she's already written. "I bought the notebook last week, I just write on my breaks and when I'm waiting for you. I. . I don't want to ever forget. . Just in case I can't return." Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes.

Natsu reached a hand over, placing it on her shoulder. "Luce." Her hand covered her eyes as tears streamed down. He pulled her into a tight hug. "Hey now, I'm sure that you'll be back home in no time." He felt a lump in his throat as he struggled to say those words, wanting to wish away that thought. "Just you see."

She tightened the hug, burying her face into his shoulder with a small sniffle. "Thanks Natsu." He closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to never have to let go.

The door of the break room opened, causing Natsu and Lucy to jump apart. Erza's eyes narrowed. "Natsu, what are you doing back here? This room is for employees only." Her eyes shifted to Lucy and she let out a small snarl. "What did you do to make her cry?"

Natsu eyes widened as he held up his hands. "N. n. nothing I swear!"

Lucy giggled as she wiped her eyes. "I'm actually fine Erza, Natsu was actually being helpful."

Erza eyed him warily before nodding and returning Lucy's smile. "Are we still on for tomorrow?"

Natsu raised his eyebrow. "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, after work, Erza and I are going to the school's gym. I'm really excited."

Erza smirked proudly. "Lucy said she's never been to gym before."

Lucy shrugged. "I mean I have used weights and stuff, but a place where they have workout machines and classes?! Wow!"

Natsu chuckled. "Good luck working out with Erza!"

The red head glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"N. . nothing!" He stammered out; she nodded to herself.

"See ya tomorrow Erza!"

"Bye Lucy!"

As they left the tavern, Natsu turned to Lucy. "Are you sure it's wise to workout with her? She doesn't go easy on people." Lucy nodded. Natsu shrugged and turned back towards his car. "Great." He spat out in a monotone voice. Lucy gave him a curious look before following his gaze. "What do you want stripper?"

"Hmph, I thought I'd find you here!" Gray smirked over to Lucy. "Why do you hang out with him so much." Lucy smiled with a light shrug, earning a disproving glare from the pinkette. "So Lucy, have any plans tomorrow?"

"Yeah! I'm going to the gym!" The excitement shone in her eyes. Gray gave a puzzled look to Natsu.

"She's never been to one."

Gray smirked. "Oh, well in that case, I'll join ya! I'll show you how to use the equipment."

Before Lucy could even open her mouth, Natsu puffed out his chest. "She already has someone showing her how to use the equipment."

Gray scowled in his friend's direction. "Who? You? Pftt! Don't make me laugh!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natsu's voice was laced with anger.

Gray smugly crossed his arms. "I'm just saying my workout methods are more efficient than yours."

"PROVE IT!"

"FINE!"

Lucy stared wide-eyed at the pair, as their faces got dangerously close. She let out a sigh. "So you are both coming tomorrow then?"

"YES!" They answered unanimously.

Lucy shrugged. "Kay, I guess I'll see you there tomorrow Gray." She walked over to Natsu's car and opened the passenger door, slowly climbing in. Natsu's olive green eyes dared Gray to move away first as they continued to glare at one another. "Natsu! Hurry up!"

"Tomorrow." Gray spat out.

Natsu nodded slowly. "Tomorrow."

Natsu drove back to the house, his head reeling from the peculiar day. He glanced at Lucy who was staring curiously over to him. "What?"

"I bet you forgot already." He turned back to the road, wondering what she meant. "Who am I going to the gym with tomorrow?"

He let out a hearty laugh. "That icy bastard has no idea! What a surprise." Lucy shook her head with a giggle.

Once home, Natsu dove into his homework, breezing through many of the problems. As he finally finished his last essay question, he noticed Lucy from the corner of his eye. He held back his snicker at seeing her bounce her head to the music from the headphones in her ears. She chopped the vegetables adding a bounce to her step as she made her way to the fridge to see what other supplies they had. Natsu averted his gaze once she bent over, feeling a slight blush graze his cheeks. He stole another quick glance as she straightened herself and made her way back to the cutting board. Her light humming had him bopping his head along as he pulled out his next assignment.

"Finally!" He shoved the pages back into his binder. Natsu turned to find Lucy gone, wondering how long he'd been alone in the kitchen. "Luce?"

He stood up and saw her sitting on the couch, sketching in her book. "Hey." Her large brown eyes glanced up to him. "I'm all done."

She smiled, "Great! Dinner's almost done."

He walked over and curiously glanced over at the book. "Whatcha drawin?"

Lucy looked up at him before slowly handing him the book. He stared with awe at the picture of a smiling, flying Happy. He looked over to his cat before returning his gaze to the picture. "Wow, I . . Hmm."

"What?"

"Nothing. . His head just looks a bit big."

Lucy snatched the sketchbook back with a grumble. "Well, that's what he looks like." Natsu laughed, plopping down beside her. Lucy set the book on the coffee table and picked up the small blue cat, stroking him gently. "Is it fine if I call another spirit out?"

Natsu shrugged. "It's fine with me." Lucy jumped up and grabbed her keys. She looked around the room before heading outside. "Where are you heading?"

Lucy smiled. "I'm going to find a large body of water." Natsu shrugged and followed her, pointing out when she made a wrong turn.

She dipped her key into the river and call out her spirit; Natsu watched with amazement as a blue haired mermaid appeared. He flinched as the mermaid turned towards Lucy with a scowl and began yelling. "Why did you summon me in this world?! Can't you tell that there isn't magic in the air here?! Ugh!"

Lucy frowned. "I'm sorry Aquarius, I just wanted to say hi and that I haven't forgotten you all. I want to summon you all as much as I can."

The mermaid crossed her arms, leering over Lucy. "Tch. . About that, why am I one of the LAST that you called?"

Natsu looked over to Lucy curiously on this one, not realizing that she had been calling them out when he wasn't around. "Sorry, I'm just not typically near water that you would like to be called from."

Aquarius gave Natsu a pointed look before turning back to Lucy. "Well don't call me again until you're back. You know, it's only been a day there."

Natsu watched Lucy's face fall at that revelation. "J. . Just one day?" Aquarius' face wavered, emotions quickly flickering over her face before hiding behind a nonchalant shrug. "O. . Okay Aquarius. It was great seeing you." The blue haired mermaid gave Lucy an exasperated glare before poofing away. Lucy turned to Natsu, tears threatening to fall as she collapsed to the ground. She covered her face with her hands as her body shook with a sob.

Natsu grabbed her shoulders and squeezed her into a tight hug. "Hey there, it's alright."

"I just keep forgetting that time is running faster here. I'm. . I'm starting to really think I might not make it home.."

Natsu pulled her hands away from her face and stared into her eyes. "Lucy, I know you'll make it back to your world. I'm sure everyone is working their hardest. Just you see!" As much as it hurt him to say it, the small hopeful smile that appeared made it worth it in his books. He walked back to the house with her and she disappeared into her own room, mumbling something about wanting to be alone. Natsu silently ate dinner before heading to bed himself. Hours passed and Natsu could only toss and turn in his own bed, worrying over Lucy. He stared at the clock for what felt like an eternity before deciding to go check on her. He opened her door and slowly crept in.

Lucy lay in bed holding back the tears that threatened to fall for hours, sleep too far out of reach. Hearing the bedroom door click, she turned and watched Natsu creep in. He leaned over her bed. "Luce?" She felt the tear run down her cheeks as she sat up and pulled him into a tight hug.

* * *

Natsu woke the next morning feeling disoriented. He sat up and looked around, surprised to find himself in his old room. Remembering how he snuck in to comfort Lucy the night before, he frowned at the empty spot next to him. Natsu crawled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. Lucy turned and gave him a brilliant smile. "Good Morning Natsu!"

"Morning." He gave a light stretch; he watched her bounce around the kitchen with a refreshed attitude. Natsu looked at the clock with a sigh. "I guess I don't have time to go for a morning workout."

Lucy shrugged. "So? Aren't you going to show Gray up at the gym anyways?"

"Oh yea!" He gave her a boyish grin. Natsu wasn't able to stop into the tavern for Lunch to visit with Lucy, so he rushed to the gym after his last class. He met with Gray in the locker room. "So you decided to show up after all?"

Gray scoffed. "Yeah, someone needs to teach you how to use the equipment. I can't imagine you being the one to show Lucy how to use them."

Natsu smirked, "Not like you're going to get the chance."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gray narrowed his eyes. Natsu just shrugged and shut his locker, leaving the room with Gray following. Natsu instantly spotted Lucy tying up her sneakers, her long blonde hair in a high ponytail. She stood up and brushed her outfit off before looking up at the approaching guys. She flashed them both a bright smile. Gray quickened his pace. "Hey Lucy!"

"Hey Gray, Natsu!"

Natsu casually looked around the room and noticed Erza approaching from the women's locker room. "Hey, Lucy, you ready for your workout?" He asked, turning back to the blonde.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah! I can't wait to see how these machines work."

Gray stepped forward. "How about you have someone who actually KNOWS what they're doing show you how to use them."

"What is that supposed to mean?" A firm voice said from behind Natsu; Gray paled as he stared at the familiar red head.

"W. . What? I. . B. But. ." He looked over to Natsu's smug face before grinding his teeth. "I didn't know you were going to be here Erza."

Erza nodded, "I invited Lucy to work out here with me yesterday." Gray nodded, his gaze still focused on Natsu. "Lucy, are you ready to work out." The blonde nodded and followed Erza to the treadmill to start their warm up routine.

"You bastard!"

Natsu painted on an innocent face. "What?"

"You knew the entire time that Erza was going to be training Lucy on those machines." Natsu shrugged in response.

"Are you boys behaving over there?" They heard a sharp voice ask from across the room.

"AYE!" Natsu yelled as Gray threw a friendly arm over his shoulder. Once Erza turned away, Natsu jumped away. "Well, I could still lift heavier weights than you!"

"You're on!"

After several hours, Erza and Lucy approached the two as Natsu slipped the bar back in place and pushed himself off the bench. Erza smiled, "It's so nice seeing you both get along so well. I was talking with Lucy and she mentioned that experience you all had a few days ago." Gray and Natsu stared at her with confusion. "The incident in the woods."

"Oh, right."

Erza shifted, placing a hand on her hip. "I was wondering, since you both seem to be getting along so well, if you could help me with something this weekend."

* * *

**I'm sorry I didn't have this up sooner, the past two weeks have been brutal. (I'm not going to get into details since I'm sure you're here more for the stories). **

**On a good note, I'm pleased to say that I should have a bit more time to write now that I finally have my tumblr page up and going. (I was spending wayyyy too much time trying to figure out how to write codes and it didn't lead to anything productive.) A BIG shout out thank you to _kisstheskyx _for her help (when I say help I mean I had no idea what I was doing and she literally held my hand and did soooooooooooooo much for me, and I'm not being literal on the hand holding part =P). **

**My tumblr name is p3pp3rmintt in case anyone wants to follow it to make sure I didn't fall off the face of the Earth. **

**I did start a new story called To My Dearest Layla. (It's a bunch of letters Jude writes to his deceased wife Layla on what he was going through while trying to get back on the right path.) Very short chapters, I just posted chapter 4 today. You don't have to check it out, I just wanted to put it out there.**

One story I would totally recommend would be** A Thousand Nights** by **Bru21**. It's actually a _**Lucy x Hibiki** _story. (I know all of you NaLu and other Lucy x other random person fans out there are like what the heck? C'mon and change it up a bit. Live a little.) This story is _**100 chapters** _and just finished this past week. That's right, another _**complete**_ story. I personally haven't read much else from that specific author, but I thought that this story is not only cute, but a GREAT way to kill time if you have any to spare or just want to binge read a really long story. =)

**Since that story is so long, that's the only one I'm going to recommend this chapter. I have plenty I want to recommend, but I'm aiming for complete stories only to give to you guys. If anyone has any recommendations for me to read, go ahead and send me a personal message (Even if it's your own). I plan one posting a list of one shots next chapter and one other complete story.**


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